Archaic bronze vessels forming an original set seldom appear on the market. The present lot is important not only because the contents indisputably belong to the same set but also because their inscriptions provide valuable insights into ritual bronze culture during the Western Zhou dynasty. In addition to the six bronzes offered in the current sale, the ‘Pi Shu’ set also includes a bronze you (fig. 1) which is inscribed with the same seventeen-character inscription as the zun from the current group. The you first appeared in Gisèle Croës Arts D'Extreme Orient’s exhibition From Ancient Kingdoms to Imperial China, International Asian Art Fair, New York, 1998, pp 30 and 31. It later entered the collection of the Belgium collector Leon Derwa and was recently offered at Bonhams London, 8th November 2018, lot 15, from the collection of Jean-Yves Ollivier.

The inscriptions of the ‘Pi Shu’ vessels are no stranger to the academic world. There has been much discussion by scholars attempting to decipher the meaning of these ancient texts. Different theories were developed based on the interpretation of a rather peculiar pictogram, which appears at the end of the inscription on the zun, you, and gu. Cheung Kwong-yue was the first scholar who explored this subject. Cheung proposes this pictogram should read ling 霝, which can be interpreted either as the name of Pi Shu’s mother or it could be an auspicious expression to convey his mother reached a perfect ending of her life (see 'The Inscriptions of Pi Shu Zun - Shedding New Light on Dispatch Wares of the Western Zhou', Bulletin of Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, vol. 70, pt. 3, Taipei, 1999, pp 768 and 769). Chen Yingjie agrees with Cheung’s identification of the pictogram but suggests an alternative interpretation. He believes Pi Shu had an illness caused by the spirit of his mother, and therefore, he made these ritual vessels for his mother to cast her spirit away (see Xi Zhou jinwen zuoqi yongtu mingci yanjiu [Research of the inscriptions on the function of Western Zhou dynasty bronzes], vol. 2, 2008, Beijing, pp 550 and 551). Another possible reading of the pictogram is sheng 眚, which means ‘disaster’. This interpretation was first proposed by Li Xueqin (see ‘Lun Yinxu buci de xinxing / On the Novae in Shang Oracle-bone Inscriptions’, Journal of Beijing Normal University, vol. 2, Beijing, 2000, p. 15), and has been further developed by Li Chuntao, who also believes that Pi Shu was haunted by his deceased mother and made this set of ritual vessels to expel disaster (see ‘Pishuzhuqi mingwen shidu – jianshi jiaguwen zhongde 'sheng' zi [Deciphering the inscription of the Pi Shu vessels – and the studying of the 'sheng' character in oracle bone inscriptions]’, Wenshi, no. 1, Beijing, 2019, pp 5-12).

The most recent study on this topic was conducted by Wu Zhenfeng, who has added a new theory to the discourse. The previous scholars’ readings of this pictogram assumed that it is composed of three aligned squares. Wu argues that the pictogram in question is not formed by three squares but is composed of a single square flanked by a pair of addorsed ‘C’ components. Instead of forming part of a sentence, this pictogram is in fact a clan sign, which can be found on other Western Zhou dynasty bronzes. With this clan pictogram now removed from the context of the sentences, Wu argues that the inscription flows perfectly, eliminating the interpretation that Pi Shou was haunted by his mother's spirit. Instead, the inscription records that Pi Shou diligently prepared this set of vessels as an offering to be sent (buried) with his deceased mother (see Wu Zhenfeng, Shidu Shanxi Licheng chutude jisipan mingwen – jianlun Pishuqi [Deciphering the inscription on the Ji Si pan excavated from Licheng, Shanxi province – and the studying of the Pi Shu vessels], Fudan University Research on Chinese Excavated Classics and Paleography (website), Shanghai, 2020).

Wu’s argument is perhaps the most plausible among the various theories developed by scholars. A close examination of the pictogram cast on the zun and gu and in the published image of the you reveal the two radicals flanking the central square were intentionally cast not as a closed square but with an opening on one side forming a ‘C’ shape, which suggests that Wu’s observation is accurate. Wu’s theory is also consistent with the format of archaic bronze inscriptions, which often end the text with a clan sign, indicating the family to which the owner of the vessel belonged. There is, however, another observation that Wu did not address in his paper. The pictogram found on the zun is cast with an additional short horizontal stroke above. It is distinctly structured as part of the composition rather than a casting flaw. The related clan symbols cited by Wu in his article all lack this stroke on the top. This is a mystery yet to be solved and would require further investigation before a comprehensive understanding of the ‘Pi Shu’ vessels can be achieved.

This set of ‘Pi Shu’ vessels belong to a special type of ritual bronzes called qianqi (dispatch vessels). Qianqi were commemorative bronzes made to accompany the deceased in the afterlife. Qianqi is a crucial category in ancient Chinese bronze culture, and the number of surviving examples of qianqi is extremely small. Based on Wu Zhenfeng’s research (‘Lun qingtonqi zhongde 'xingqi' jiqi xiangguan qiwu [Studying of the 'travel vessels' and the related vessels]’, Fudan University Research on Chinese Excavated Classics and Paleography (website), Shanghai, 2018), in addition to the ‘Pi Shu’ set, only two other qianqi from the Western Zhou dynasty are known. One is the Qian he from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, published in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Washington, D.C. and Cambridge, 1990, pl. 115; the second is the Qian Ren jue from the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Yinzhou jinwen jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 2007, no. 08137.

青銅器成組者極少同時現身市場，而本組否叔器不僅六件成套無疑，同時每件皆鑄有銘文，按器形依次遞減，學術價值極高，為研究西周青銅器文化提供了寶貴的實物資料，尤為難得。否叔器除本組外另有一件青銅卣（圖一），與本組尊器同銘，初見於比利時古董商吉賽爾1998年展覽《從古代王國到中華帝國——國際亞洲藝術節》，紐約，1998年，頁30及31。此卣後被比利時藏家 Leon Derwa 收藏，繼為歐宗易收藏，並於近年上拍於倫敦邦瀚斯2018年11月8日，編號15。

否叔器對於學術界絕不陌生，至今已有許多學者對其銘文進行過釋讀考證，但各家眾說紛紜。目前主要的爭論點在於銘文中的一個圖形文字，此銘於尊、卣、觚上均可見，位於其銘文之最末。張光裕先生是最早針對此一課題進行研究的學者。張氏認為此銘應讀為「霝」，或為否叔之母名，亦或作善終之意（詳見〈西周遣器新識——否叔尊銘之啟示〉，《中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊》，第七十本，第三分，台北，1999年，頁768及769）。陳英傑先生同意張氏的釋讀，但對銘文內容有不同的解釋。陳氏認為否叔患病，久不能愈，以為是其母神靈的作祟，故製此組宗器用來遣送作祟母親的神靈（詳見《西周金文作器用途銘辭研究（下）》，2008年，北京，頁550及551）。另有學者將此銘釋讀為「眚」，有災意。這一觀點最初由李學勤先生提出（見〈論殷墟卜辭的新星〉，《北京師範大學學報》，第2期，2000年，頁15），後由李春桃先生加以延伸，李氏對於銘文的解釋同持否叔逝母作祟說（詳見〈否叔諸器銘文釋讀——兼釋甲骨文中的「眚」字〉，《文史》，第1輯，北京，2019年，頁5至12）。

關於此課題目前最新的研究討論見於吳鎮烽先生於2020年所發表的文章。吳氏的研究對此一銘文的釋讀提出了一個全新的方向。以往學者皆認為此銘的結構是由三個平行排列的口組成。吳氏提出此銘結構並非並列的三個口，而實為中間一個方框，左右各為一個C形符號。此銘並非文句的一部分，而是一個族徽，而相類族徽亦可見於其他西周青銅器之上。由此一來，否叔器的銘文即變得清晰易懂，其內容並非記載否叔母親的鬼魂作祟，而是記錄了否叔盡力辦理一組獻給亡母的宗彝，用以致送其母（詳見〈釋讀山西黎城出土的季姒盤銘文——兼論否叔器〉，《復旦大學出土文獻與古文字研究中心（網站）》，上海，2020年）。

吳先生的論點在目前看來應該最有可能。通過仔細檢視尊、觚實物以及卣銘的照片，可見上文所論之銘文中間實為一個口，而左右兩側的部分明顯故意未做封口，從而形成一個C的形狀。由此可見吳氏對此銘的辨讀十分準確。與此同時，吳先生對於此銘的解讀亦符合金文格式。金文中尤其常見於主體文字後附一族徽之例，用以表示器主之宗屬。然而吳氏文章中亦有一處疑問未及涉論。在細觀否叔尊實物上的族徽銘之後，可見此銘除了基本的結構之外，上面另可清晰見到一道短橫，斷應為銘字的一部分而非是鑄造瑕疵。吳氏在其文章中所列舉之相類族徽銘例皆未見此橫，尚不知何解，更待以後深入研究。

否叔器組屬一類特殊的青銅器，名為「遣器」。遣意為送，遣器則是專門為逝者鑄造並陪伴其入葬的宗器。遣器作為中國青銅文化的一個重要類別，存世作例極為罕有，故此其研究價值極高。據吳鎮烽先生統計（〈論青銅器中的「行器」及其相關器物〉，《復旦大學出土文獻與古文字研究中心（網站）》，上海，2018年），目前已知西周遣器除本組否叔器外，另僅見兩例。其一為遣盉，亞瑟•M•賽克勒收藏，錄於傑西卡•羅森，《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection》，華盛頓及劍橋，1990年，圖版115；其二為遣妊爵，現藏北京故宮博物院，載中國社會科學院考古研究所編，《殷周金文集成》，北京，2007年，編號08137。