Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 - 14 September 2018
Lot 1109. A rare bronze ritual rectangular food vessel, fanding, early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th century B.C.; 8 ½ in. (21.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 400,000 - USD 600,000. Unsold.© Christie's Images Ltd 2018
The deep body of rectangular form is raised on four columnar legs cast in intaglio with triangles pendent from a scroll band. The body is cast in relief on each side with a taotiemask below a band of kui dragons, all reserved on leiwen grounds and centered by notched flanges which are repeated at the corners, with a pair of bail handles rising from the rim. The bronze has a dark grey and mottled green patina. Together with two line drawings of the present lot by Hongwei Dong.
Accompanying line drawings by Hongwei Dong.
Provenance: Wui Po Kok, Hong Kong, 1999.
Literature: R. A. Pegg and Lidong Zhang, The MacLean Collection: Chinese Ritual Bronzes, Chicago, 2010, pp. 74-7, no. 15.
Note: Quadrilateral (fang) vessels had great significance to the Shang and Zhou ruling elite, and are much rarer than their rounded-form counterparts. The first vessel type to be cast in square cross-section is the ding, such as the massive early Shang fangding (100 cm. high) found in Duling, Zhengzhou city, illustrated in Shangyi yiyi sifang zhiji, Hefei, 2013, p. 61. According to scholars, ibid., p. 60, the casting of fangding is more difficult than round ding, and massive fangding vessels were reserved for nobility of the highest rank and symbolize royal power.
Two very similar fangding bearing Yachou clan signs in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, are illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pp. 560-69, nos. 96 and 97. An almost identical fangding sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2012, lot 1508. Another similar fangding but lacking the intaglio decoration on the legs was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3109.
A rare bronze ritual rectangular food vessel, fangding, Late Shang Dynasty, Anyang, 12th-11th Century BC8¾ in. (22.2 cm.) high, 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) across handles. Sold for $1,082,500 at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2012, lot 1508. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012
A bronze ritual rectangular food vessel, fangding, Late Shang Dynasty, Anyang, 12th-11th Century BC; 10 ¼ in. (25.8 cm.) high, 8 ¼ in. (21.2 cm.) across handles. Sold for 4,860,000 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3109. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.
Cf. my post. A bronze ritual rectangular food vessel, fangding, Late Shang Dynasty, Anyang, 12th-11th Century BC
Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 - 14 September 2018