A LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, DING SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH – 12TH CENTURY BC | "商公元前十三至十二世紀 青銅獸面紋三足鼎 《祺父乙》銘"

Sotheby's London, 25th March 1975, lot 157.

Collection of J.T. Tai (1910-92).

Sotheby's New York, 22nd March 2011, lot 25.

倫敦蘇富比1975年3月25日，編號157

戴潤齋（1910-92年）收藏

紐約蘇富比2011年3月22日，編號25

Christian Deydier, Chinese Bronzes, New York, 1980, col. pl. 4.

戴克成，《Chinese Bronzes》，紐約，1980年，彩圖4

This impressive vessel has an imposing profile, achieved through its deep form, powerful thick legs and dramatic zoomorphic masks with prominent bulging eyes. The sharp-edged crispness of the design and its notable level of preservation, evidence the Shang caster’s technological sophistication and bold creativity. The section-mould method preferred by Shang casters and used for making this vessel, allowed craftsmen to showcase their virtuosity and create ever more complex but coherent designs by carving directly on the mould. This technique also eliminated the need to alter the decoration by cold-working the metal after the initial pour, thus ensuring it retained its striking sharpness.

The animal mask band on this vessel is unusual: its level of intricacy and presence of vertical quills derives from Style III in Max Loehr’s classification of Shang bronzes. This style began to emerge in the latter period of the Zhengzhou phase. The strong profile of this piece, and its prominent legs, however suggest a later date in the Anyang period. Anyang bronzes, which were produced between c.1300 to c.1030 BC, when the Shang capital was moved to Yinxu, in present-day Henan province, represent the pinnacle of Shang metalworking tradition.

Vessels of this form and design are rare although two larger ding of this type, were unearthed in Liquan county, Shaanxi province, and illustrated in Shaanxi chutu Shang Zhou qinngtongqi [Bronzes of Shang and Zhou dynasties unearthed in Shaanxi province], Beijing, 1979, vol. I, pls 57 and 58; and an even larger example was discovered at Renja village, in Fufei county, illustrated in Li Xixing, The Shang Bronzes, Xi’an, 1994, pl. 3. Another larger ding with a related motif, was discovered at the tomb of Fu Hao, royal consort of king Wu Ding, in Anyang, and published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese archaic bronzes], vol. 2, Beijing, 1997, pl. 8.

For an earlier version of this form and design, see a ding unearthed in Pinglu county, Shanxi province, and illustrated in ibid., vol. 1, pl. 33

Ding are among the most significant products of the Bronze Age in China, associated with royal power and authority and legitimacy to the throne. According to legend, King Yu, founder of the Xia dynasty, cast nine large bronze ding, one for each of the nine provinces in his kingdom. This form, which continuously evolved over the centuries, derived from pottery tripod vessels made as early as the Neolithic period. Used during ritual ceremonies as food or cooking vessels, ding were very popular in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, as large numbers have been found in royal tombs. The tomb of Fu Hao in Anyang, for example, contained over twenty-six vessels of this type.

A line drawing of a bronze ding vessel bearing the same inscription Qi fu yi, attributed to the Shang dynasty, is included in Xuanhe bogu tulu [Illustrated catalogue of antique treasures from the Xuanhe hall], Boruzhai chongxiu version, vol. 1, p. 44.

青銅三足鼎，雄碩渾厚，器腹深圓，器足有力，獸目鼓凸，威慑震人。紋飾線條清晰銳利，整體質精細膩，彰顯殷商時期青銅鑄造工藝之高度成就。商代多以塊範法鑄器，將紋飾直接刻於「範」，用以鑄造，製成之器細緻繁複，對稱和諧，並能保持線條流暢俐落。

此鼎之獸面紋甚是罕見：紋飾細緻繁複，並見垂直羽紋，應屬羅樾歸納商代青銅器之第三類風格，始見於鄭州晚期；本器造形碩麗，三足圓渾雄壯，或顯安陽晚期風格，乃遷都殷墟之後，西元前1300年至1030年間，為商代鑄器技術之巔峰時期。

類同器形、紋飾之器極罕，參考二例，尺寸皆較大，出土於陝西醴泉，載於《陝西出土商周青銅器》，北京，1979年，卷1，圖版57、58；還有一件類例，尺寸更大，刊於李西興，《陝西青銅器》，西安，1994年，圖版3。安陽武丁婦好墓出土一大型青銅鼎，紋飾與本品相類，錄於《中國青銅器全集》，卷2，北京，1997年，圖版8。

此類獸面三足鼎雛本，參考山西平陸出土一例，前述出處，卷1，圖版33。

「鼎」象徵正統皇權，乃中國青銅器時期最為舉足輕重之文物。傳說禹鑄九鼎，象徵夏朝天下之九州，如此意含世世遞傳。鼎源自新石器時期之陶器，後為祭祀禮器，用以盛煮食物，盛行於商周二朝，多出土於皇室墓葬。以安陽婦好墓為例，曾出土超過二十六件青銅鼎。

《泊如齋重修宣和博古圖錄》載有商綦鼎線圖，其銘文與此同（卷1，頁44）。