The Xu Zun ,Western Zhou dynasty, 10th century BC | 西周 公元前十世紀 需尊

Collection of Henri (1891-1977) and Hélène (1894-1990) Hoppenot.

Binoche et Godeau, Paris, 9th April 1991, lot 104.

Galerie Beurdeley & Cie, Paris.

亨利•賀伯諾 (1891-1977) 及伊蓮娜•賀伯諾 (1894-1990) 伉儷收藏

Binoche et Godeau 拍賣行，巴黎，1991年4月9日，編號104

Galerie Beurdeley & Cie，巴黎

Binoche et Godeau's advertisement, Orientations, March 1991, p. 12.

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. 3, Shanghai, 2020, no. 1005.

Binoche et Godeau 拍賣行廣告，《Orientations》，1991年3月，頁12

吳鎮烽，《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成三編》，卷3 ，上海，2020年，編號1005

The seven-character inscription cast to the interior bottom of the present vessel translates to 'Xu [the owner of this zun] made this precious ritual bronze for his father Geng.' The ancient script, Xu 需, is one of the rarest characters found in archaic bronze inscriptions. In the late Shang dynasty, a clan is known to have the name of Xu, evidenced by a small group of surviving bronzes from this clan, including two bronze ding, each inscribed with a three-character inscription including the clan pictogram Xu, published in The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 2007, nos 01635 and 01636; two bronze ge each cast with the Xu pictogram, one from the British Museum, London, and the other formerly in the collection of Qu Mufu (1769-1844), published in Wu Zhenfeng, Shang Zhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 30, Shanghai, 2012, nos 16038 and 16039; and a bronze lei, from the MacLean Collection, sold in these rooms, 21st September 2021, lot 9.

Beginning from the early Western Zhou dynasty, clan names were never used alone to indicate ownership; they were always followed by the name of the bronze owners (see Zhang Maorong, Guwenzi yu qingtongqi lunji [Compilation of essays on ancient scripts and archaic bronzes], Beijing, 2002, p. 229). The character Xu on the present lot, therefore, does not suggest that the owner of this zun belonged to the Xu clan; instead, it likely indicates the ming 名 of the owner. A ming (a term still used in China today) is a name given to a person at birth by the parents (see Wu Zhenfeng, Jinwen renming huibian [Compilation of the names from bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 2006, p. 451).

The elegant form of the present zun is a unique creation of the Western Zhou dynasty. This shape emerged during the later phase of the early Western Zhou period and became popular during the early phase of the middle Western Zhou. One of the most well-known examples is the Feng Zun 豐尊, excavated from a hoard in Famen town, Fufeng county, Shaanxi province, now in the Zhouyuan Museum, Baoji, published in Li Boqian, ed., Zhongguo chutu qingtongqi quanji / The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, vol. 16, Beijing, 2018, pl. 451. The Feng Zun has been widely accepted by scholars to be from the period of King Mu (c. 976-c. 922 BC). Compare also a related zun of this type, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 中-銅-000168-N000000000), published on the Museum's website.

For examples sold at auction, see one sold twice, first in our London rooms, 13th December 1977, lot 23, and later sold in these rooms, 22nd March 2011, lot 23, from the J.T Tai Collection; two sold in our London rooms, one on 19th June 1984, lot 17, and the other from the Philips Collection, sold on 30th March 1978, lot 16; and two sold at Christie's New York, one from the collection of Barbara J. and Helen S. Meyers, 25th March 1998, lot 44, and the other from the Hardy Collection, 21st September 1995, lot 131.