AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, ZUN, WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY | 西周 青銅夔龍獸面紋尊

Collection of Hatta Seido. 

Osaka Bijutsu Kurabu (Osaka Art Club), Osaka, 23rd June 1928, lot 69.

The box for this lot is inscribed with a note by Zoroku Hata in 1922.

八田西洞收藏

大阪美術俱樂部，大阪，1928年6月23日，編號69

本拍品盒蓋內見藏六壬戌年（1922年）題識

Distinctive for the two repeating bands around its body, the present lot belongs to a very small group of bronzes sharing this feature that were made during the Western Zhou dynasty. See a closely related inscribed bronze zun of smaller size, cast with a very similar design, formerly in the collection of the Qing dynasty calligrapher Qian Dian (1744-1806), currently in the Taito City Calligraphy Museum, Tokyo, published in Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from Shang and Zhou Dynasties], vol. 21, Shanghai, 2012, no. 11563 (line drawing). An inscribed bronze zun also of smaller size, decorated with two repeating kui dragon bands of a different style, excavated from a Western Zhou dynasty tomb near Beijing, is illustrated in 'Excavation of the Western Chou Tombs of Immolated Slaves at Liulihe in Fangshan County', Kaogu, 1974.5, pl. 8, fig. 4; another example from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, was sold at Christie's New York, 14th and 15th September 2017, lot 905; and one with the kui dragon design reserved on a leiwen ground, excavated from a Western Zhou dynasty tomb in Xiang county, Henan province, is published in Henan Provincial Museum, 'Excavation of the Western Chou Tomb at Hsianghsien, Honan Province', Wenwu, 1977. 8, pl.4, fig. 4.

Compare other related examples, including a slightly smaller bronze zun, cast with two similar kuilong bands and raised beast masks but to the top band only, excavated in Baoji, Shaanxi province, published in ibid., vol. 21, Shanghai, 2012, no. 11521, and together with a zun decorated with a band of kuilong and bird interrupted by raised beast heads, in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, no. 11646; a third cast with two bird bands and beast masks to the top band, illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt and Jean-Claude Moreau-Gobard, Chinese Art: Bronze, Jade, Sculpture, Ceramics, Oxford, 1980, pl. 13, and later sold in our London rooms, 19th June 1984, lot 21; and another with two bands of a slightly different design and beast masks to the top band, published in Jung Keng, Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies. The Bronzes of Shang and Chou, vol. II, Peiping, 1941, pl. 518.

本品環飾兩道紋，甚為珍罕，帶相近紋飾之西周青銅器數目甚少。比較一銘文銅尊例，尺寸較小，紋飾相近，出自清代書法家錢坫（1744-1806年）收藏，現存於東京台東区立書道博物館，載於吳鎮烽，《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成》，卷21，上海，2012年，編號11563（線描圖）。另比一例，尺寸較小，飾兩道夔龍紋，風格相異，西周近背景古墓出土，載於<Excavation of the Western Chou Tombs of Immolated Slaves at Liuliho in Fangshan County>，《考古》，編號5，1974年，圖版8，圖4；另一例出自Arthur M. Sackler基金會收藏，售於紐約佳士得2017年9月14-15日，編號905；另一例飾夔龍紋及雷紋地，河南省鄭州市襄城縣西周古墓出土，載於河南博物院，<Excavation of the Western Chou Tomb at Hsianghsien, Honan Province>，《文物》，編號8，1977年，圖版4，圖4。

此外亦可比較數例，其一尺寸較小，銘兩道夔龍紋及獸面紋，陝西寶雞出土，出處同上，卷21，上海，2012，編號11521，同書並載一例，飾夔龍紋、鳥紋及獸面紋，現存於 Fogg Art Museum，哈佛大學，劍橋市，編號11646；例三飾兩道鳥紋及獸面紋，圖載於Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt及Jean-Claude Moreau-Gobard，《Chinese Art: Bronze, Jade, Sculpture, Ceramics》，牛津，1980年，圖版13，後售於倫敦蘇富比1984年6月19日，編號21；再比一例，兩道紋飾稍異，並飾獸面紋，載於Jung Keng，Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies. The Bronzes of Shang and Chou, 卷II，北平，1941年，圖版518。