The Luo Ji Gui, A magnificent and important pair of archaic bronze ritual pedestaled food vessels (Fang Zuo Gui), Early Western Zhou dynasty, Circa King Zhao period | 西周初 約昭王時期 𩂣姬方座簋一對

Anthony Carter, London.

Offered at Christie's New York, 21st September 2004, lot 156.

Anthony Carter，倫敦

上拍於紐約佳士得2004年9月21日，編號156

Heightened Aristocracy: the Magnificent Pair of Luo Ji Gui

Bronze gui cast with an integral square podium was a unique invention of the Zhou dynasty. This special bronze form is believed to have been developed from the early Western Zhou tradition of placing ritual vessels on a dedicated bronze platform, called jin 禁, in order to raise the height of vessels used in ceremonies. Although there have been excavated findings of bronze gui with square pedestals have been excavated in different provinces including Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Shandong, Liaoning and Jiangsu, archeological evidence has suggested that this specific gui form likely originated from today's Baoji, Shaanxi province, where a significantly larger number of early Western Zhou examples were excavated. This form of gui was usually discovered only in major tombs of the Zhou kings, nobility and the wealthy elite of the period, demonstrating the significance of this ritual bronze type and the lofty social status of their owners.

A closely related early Western Zhou dynasty bronze gui of the same size and design, although cast with a different inscription, is known to have been excavated in Baishui county, Shaanxi province in 1971, published in Shang Zhiru, Wu Zhenfeng, and Zhu Jieyuan, 'Shaanxisheng jinnian shouji de bufen shangzhou qingtongqi [A selection of Shang and Zhou archaic bronzes collected in the Shaanxi province in recent years]', Wenwu ziliao congkan [Journal of culture relic research], no. 2, Beijing, 1978, pl. 9, fig. 1 (fig. 1). Zhang Maorong has attributed this companion vessel to the period of King Zhao (proposed reign dates c. 995-c. 977 BC) of the early Western Zhou dynasty (see Guwenzi yu qingtongqi lunji [Compilation of essays on ancient scripts and archaic bronzes], Beijing, 2002, p. 109). Zhang further notes in his book that gui with a square pedestal were usually produced as single vessels, and that only from the period of King Zhao did they begin to appear in pairs (ibid., p. 99). 

Compare also the Yi Yu Gui, which was sold recently in these rooms, 20th September 2022, lot 9. The Yi Yu Gui, although cast without a pedestal, has a closely comparable design to the present pair. Its body is similarly decorated with a broad central band of raised bosses against diamond and triangular grounds between rows of small, repeating rings; the mythical beast masks issuing the loop handles are also closely related to the present vessels. The Yi Yu Gui has been widely accepted, based on its long, important documentary inscription, to the period of King Zhao. 

Ritual bronze gui with a square pedestal are extremely rare among all ancient bronze forms, and even more so are the ones with inscriptions. Zhang Maorong has conducted detailed studies on this subject. According to Zhang's survey, only 101 square-pedestaled gui have previously been recorded (59 of them can be attributed to the early Western Zhou period). Of all the recorded examples, only about 69 bronzes bear an inscription (op. cit., pp 98 and 105). 

The present pair of gui are each cast with a same eleven-character inscription, identifying the owner of the vessels to be Luo Ji 𩂣姬. The first character, luo, indicates the state where she was married into. The second character, ji, which was the xing (surname) of the Zhou court, suggests her royal lineage. Wu Zhenfeng notes that in ancient China, women who were capable of commissioning ritual bronzes for their personal use must have had a prominent social status within their family, such as the first wife of a state or clan leader (see 'Yetan zhoudai nüxing chengming de fangshi [Another discussion on the female naming traditions of the Zhou dynasty]', Fudan University Research on Chinese Excavated Classics and Paleography (website), Shanghai, 2016, pp 9 and 10). Zhang Maorong also suggests that square-pedestaled gui with a height between 20 to 50 cm were reserved for the high-class aristocrats of the early Western Zhou society, such as royal family members and high officials at the court (op. cit., p. 98).

Scholars have identified luo 𩂣 (the first character from Luo Ji's name) to be the ancient state of Lu 潞 (see Zhong Lin, Jinwen jiexi dazidian [Explanatory dictionary of archaic bronze inscriptions], Xi’an, 2017, p. 1374 and Chen Pan, Chunqiu dashibiao lieguo juexing ji cunmiebiao zhuanyi [Major events of the Spring and Autumn period and history of the various states], Taipei, 1969, reprint, vol. 3, Shanghai, 2009, p. 1080, no. 170). Located in today's Lucheng county, Shanxi province (fig. 2), the Lu state, with the xing of Wei 隗, is believed to have originated from Guirong 鬼戎, a powerful nomadic clan from the northern region of Shanxi in the late Shang dynasty (see Chen Mengjia, Yinxu buci zongshu [A summary of the oracle bone inscriptions from Yinxu], Beijing, 1956, pp 293 and 311). The only records of the Lu state found in Chinese classical text reference their history from the Spring and Autumn period. Lu was a powerful state in the early Spring and Autumn period, who had prolonged conflicts with its neighboring state, Jin 晉. Historical records have shown that Duke Cheng of Jin (r. 606-600 BC), a royal prince of Zhou, had to marry his daughter, Bo Ji, to the leader of the Lu state in order to exchange for peace. The Lu state was eventually conquered by the Jin in the late 6th century BC. 

Little, however, is known about the Lu state during the Western Zhou period. Huang Jinqian and Zhang Xinjun studied a group of related Western Zhou dynasty inscribed bronzes and drew a connection between the Lu state and the Ba state 霸國. The authors argue that the Ba state, which appeared only in archaic bronze inscriptions is essentially the Lu state prior to the early Spring and Autumn period (see 'Shuo xizhou jinwen zhong de "Ba" yu "Ge" / On Pa and Ge in Western Zhou Bronze Inscriptions: A Discussion on the Location of the Pa State during the Two Zhou Periods', Kaogu yu wenwu / Archaeology and Cultural Relics, no. 5, 2015, pp 105-111). Archaeological findings from the recent decades have discovered that the Ba state was one of the vassal states of the Western Zhou empire located in Yicheng county, Shanxi province (fig. 2). The leader of the state was Ba Bo 霸伯. Related bronze inscriptions have shown that the Ba state maintained an active relationship with the Zhou court, as well as with its neighboring states, such as Jin, Beiyan, Rui, and Peng (see ibid., p. 105).

Based on the aforementioned evidence, the owner of the present pair of gui, Luo Ji, an aristocrat related to the Zhou royal family, was likely married to the leader of the Ba state during the reign of King Zhao in the early Western Zhou period. She was once rewarded by the king and subsequently commissioned this pair of ritual vessels to commemorate such honorable event. Similar early Western Zhou square-pedestaled gui have been found from the Ba state tombs at Dahekou, Yicheng county, in Shanxi, such as one with a related design, discovered in 2007 from tomb M1:86, now housed in the Shanxi Bronze Museum, Taiyuan, illustrated in Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng sanbian [Third sequel to the compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 1, Shanghai, 2020, no. 0399. 

Most examples of extant square-pedestaled gui are preserved in museums around the world. See, for example, the Li Gui 利簋, which is also the earliest dated Western Zhou bronze, inscribed with an inscription recording the conquest of the Shang by King Wu of Zhou in circa 1046 BC, excavated from a hoard in Lintong county, Shaanxi province, in 1976, now in the National Museum of China, Beijing, published in Zhang Tianen, ed., Shaanxi jinwen jicheng [Compendium of bronze inscriptions in Shaanxi], vol. 13, Xi'an, 2016, no. 1439; the Tian Wang Gui 天亡簋, one of the most celebrated Western Zhou bronzes, set with four handles, unearthed in Mei county, Shaanxi province during the late Qing period, also preserved in the National Museum of China, illustrated in ibid., vol. 2, no. 0123; the Hu Gui 㝬簋, made by King Li of Zhou (proposed reign dates c. 877-c. 841 BC) in the late Western Zhou dynasty, discovered in Qi village, Fufeng county, Shaanxi province, in 1978, published in Li Boqian, ed., Zhongguo chutu qingtongqi quanji / The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Shaanxi III, vol. 17, Beijing, 2018, pl. 542; and an uninscribed one with cover from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, now in the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., included in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Washinton, D.C. and Cambridge, 1990, pl. 38. 

Very few bronze gui of this type have been sold at auctions and no other inscribed examples in pairs have appeared on the international market in recent years. See an important pair of covered gui, each cast with a square pedestal and set with a pair of upturned U-shaped handles, from the collection of Henry Brown, sold in our London rooms, 25th March 1947, lot 83. For single examples, see the impressive Zuo Bao Yi Gui 作寶彝簋 from the collection of Julius Eberhardt, sold in these rooms, 17th September 2013, lot 3; the Bo Ju Gui 伯矩簋 sold in our London rooms, 8th June 1993, lot 119; the Teng Hu Gui 滕虎簋 sold in these rooms, 17th October 2001, lot 7; and the Yong Si Gui 雍姒簋 with less decoration, from the collection of Duan Fang, sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lot 340.

鳳麟雙儀：青銅重器𩂣姬方座簋一對

本方座簋，成對者極其珍罕，器形雄渾，威儀泱泱，鑄銘更具史學價值，屬女性貴族自作之器，殊為珍貴。方座之簋，應始於周。此特殊形制當源自西周早期開始使用青銅禁的緣故。將青銅禮器置於禁上，可增加高度，以供祭事。陝西、甘肅、河南、山東、遼寧、江蘇等省均見方座簋出土，然考古研究表明，方座簋應源於今陝西寶雞，此地所出西周早期方座簋最多。方座簋僅見周室王侯大墓，可知此類形制規格極高、其擁有者身份顯貴。

目前已知存世一西周早期青銅簋，器形、尺寸、紋飾與本品皆同，銘文相異，1971年於陝西省白水縣出土，刊尚志儒、吳鎮烽及朱捷元，〈陝西省近年收集的部分商周青銅器〉，《文物資料叢刊》第2輯，北京，1978年，圖版9（圖一）；張懋鎔將該簋斷為西周昭王（在位提定公元前995至公元前977年）時期（見《古文字與青銅器論集》，北京，2002年，頁109）。張懋鎔又於論著中提及最初方座簋多為單器，惟自昭王時期始見成對（前述出處，頁99）。

本對簋斷代亦可參考𤞷馭簋，最近一次售於紐約蘇富比2022年9月20日，編號9。𤞷馭簋雖不連方座，然紋飾頗似此對，簋腹作斜方格乳丁紋，雙耳獸面亦與此對近同。𤞷馭簋所銘長文為重要史料，可自證其昭王斷代。

遍考吉金各形各類，方座簋彌足珍罕，帶銘文者尤稀。張懋鎔就此有深入研究，據他考論，所記錄得方座簋僅一百零一件（其中五十九件可斷為西周早期），所錄例中又僅約六十九件帶銘文（出處同前，頁98及105）。

此二簋上銘文相同，各十一字，言明自作器者為𩂣姬。首字「𩂣」為其夫國之名，次字「姬」則為周朝國姓，可見其王室血統。吳鎮烽有述，古代中國女性，凡有能力自鑄青銅者，必居族中高位，如諸侯或氏族首領之宗婦（見《也談周代女性稱名的方式》，復旦大學出土文獻與古文字研究中心（網站論文），上海，2016年，頁9及10）。張懋鎔亦有述，高二十至五十公分之方座簋為西周初期顯赫貴族所用，其擁有者或位列諸侯國國君，或為位高權重的王朝重臣（出處同前，頁98）。

經學者考證，「𩂣」字通「潞」，潞為古之潞國（見鐘林，《金文解析大字典》，西安，2017年，頁1374，及陳槃，《春秋大事表列國爵姓及存滅表譔異（下）》，台北，1969年，上海，2009年重印版，頁1080，編號170）。潞國舊址位於今山西省潞城縣（圖二），隗姓，應為商末山西北部游牧大部族鬼戎的一支（見陳夢家，《殷墟卜辭綜述》，北京，1956年，頁293及311）。古文獻中，對於潞國的記載僅限於春秋時期。春秋之初，潞國強盛，與鄰國晉多有兵戎。史料有載，周室王子晉成公（公元前606至公元前600年在位）曾嫁女伯姬予潞國首領以和親。至公元前六世紀末，潞國終為晉國所滅。

西周時期之潞國未見有記載。黃錦前、張新俊對一組西周銘文青銅加以研究，勾勒出潞國與霸國之淵源。據二位學者論，見於青銅銘文之霸國，應即為春秋所載潞國之前身（見〈說西周金文中的“霸”與“格”——兼論兩周時期霸國的地望〉，《考古與文物》，2015年第5期，頁105-111）。近幾十年，考古發現表明霸國乃西周諸侯國之一，位於山西省翼城縣（圖二），其國君為霸伯。相關青銅銘文顯示，霸國與周王室、晉、北燕、芮、倗等鄰國皆有往來（前述出處，頁105）。

據此推斷，本對方座簋之主𩂣姬應為西周昭王時期嫁入霸國之姬姓貴族女子。𩂣姬身世顯貴，又獲周王賞賜，光前裕後，故鑄此方座簋一對，以記殊榮。近類西周初期方座簋可見出土於大河口霸國墓地，如見一例，造型紋飾皆與本對簋相近，出土於2007年M1：86墓地，現藏太原市山西青銅博物院，錄吳鎮烽，《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成三編》，卷1 ，上海，2020年，編號0399。

存世方座簋多被世界各大博物館所收藏。如利簋，銘文記載武王伐紂，約公元前1046年，乃已知最早之西周青銅器，1976年陝西省臨潼縣出土，現藏中國國家博物館，北京，載張天恩編，《陝西金文集成》，卷13，西安，2016年，編號1439；亦見天亡簋，四面帶耳，為西周青銅重器，清末陝西省郿縣出土，同藏中國國家博物館，錄前述出處，卷2，編號0123；再比㝬簋，西周晚期周厲王（在位提定約公元前877至公元前841年）所鑄，1978年陝西省扶風縣齊村出土，載李伯謙編，《中國出土青銅器全集》，卷17，北京，2018年，圖版542；另比一蓋簋，無銘文，亞瑟•M•賽克勒舊藏，現貯國立亞洲藝術博物館，華盛頓，錄傑西卡•羅森，《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷IIB，華盛頓特區及劍橋，1990年，圖版38。

青銅方座簋見於拍場者極少，近年國際拍場更未見其他帶銘文且成對之例。比一對方座蓋簋，Henry Brown舊藏，售於倫敦蘇富比1947年3月25日，編號83。單例可比數，其一，作寶彝簋，Julius Eberhardt寶蓄，售於紐約蘇富比2013年9月17日，編號3；其二，伯矩簋，售於倫敦蘇富比1993年6月8日，編號119；其三，滕虎簋，售於紐約蘇富比2001年10月17日，編號7；其四，雍姒簋，紋飾簡素，端方舊藏，售於倫敦蘇富比1980年12月16日，編號340。