The Wei Gu, Late Shang dynasty | 商末 圍觚

Collection of Jack and Adele Frost. 

Offered at Christie's New York, 2nd December 1986, lot 311.

Acquired in Los Angeles, circa 1990.

Christie's New York, 17th September 2008, lot 348.

Jack 及 Adele Frost 伉儷收藏

上拍於紐約佳士得1986年12月2日，編號311

得於洛杉磯，約1990年

紐約佳士得2008年9月17日，編號348

Liu Yu and Lu Yan, eds., Jinchu yinzhou jinwen jilu [Compilation of recently discovered bronze inscriptions], vol. 3, Beijing, 2002, pl. 692.

Liu Yu and Wang Tao, Liusan oumei yinzhou youming qingtongqi jilu / A Selection of Early Chinese Bronzes with Inscriptions from Sotheby's and Christie's Sales, Shanghai, 2007, pl. 202.

Wu Zhenfeng, Shang Zhou qingtong qi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of important inscriptions and images of bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 17, Shanghai, 2012, no. 08988.

劉雨及盧岩編，《近出殷周金文集錄》，卷3，北京，2002年，圖版692

劉雨及汪濤，《流散歐美殷周有銘青銅器集錄》，上海，2007年，圖版202

吳鎮烽，《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成》，卷17，上海，2012年，編號08988

The present vessel is a fine example of the sophisticated bronze style developed in the late Shang dynasty during China's Bronze Age. Bronze gu, used as sacrificial wine receptacles, are known throughout the Shang dynasty, but it was in the late Shang period when bronze casting reached a new height that the vessel attained its final striking form. Gu, at first, were short and stout with simple taotie designs merely suggested by eyes amidst linear decoration, yet the refinement of shape and ornamentation steadily took place as the foundries' technique gained in skill and experience. By the time the Shang capital had moved from Zhengzhou to Anyang in Henan province, circa 1300 BC, gu of taller, more graceful proportions with intricate taotie design and other animal motifs had entered the foundries' repertoire. 

This gu is cast with an interesting clan pictogram depicting two pairs of feet with one encircled. This pictogram has been deciphered by contemporary scholars to be wei 圍, which translates to 'surround / besiege' (see Zhong Lin, Jinwen jiexi dazidian [Explanatory dictionary of archaic bronze inscriptions], Xi'an, 2017, p. 762). Wei was one of the ancient clans active during the late Shang period. According to a survey conducted by He Jingcheng (Shangzhou qingtongqi zushi mingwen yanjiu [Study of the clan pictograms on the bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties], Jinan, 2009, pp 381 and 382), about 25 extant bronzes can be identified from this clan, all of which are attributed to the late Shang dynasty. Several bronzes from the group have been discovered at Houjiazhuang, Anyang, Henan province, which suggests the possibility that at least some of the members from the Wei clan resided near the late Shang capital. 

Three other bronze gu, in addition to the present vessel, are known to have the same clan pictogram, possibly forming a set or part of a set. One of the same size and design from the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin, is published in Zhong Baisheng, Chen Zhaorong, and Huang Mingchong, et al., ed., Xinshou Yin Zhou qingtongqi mingwen ji qiying huibian [Compendium of inscriptions and images of recently included bronzes from Yin and Zhou dynasties], Taipei, 2006, no. 1835; the second from the collection of Paulette Goddard Remarque, was sold in our London rooms, 13th December 1977, lot 210; the third from the Palace Museum, Beijing, recorded by the rubbing of its inscription, is illustrated in Wu Zhenfeng, Shang Zhou gingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 17, Shanghai, 2012, no. 08989.

See also other bronzes from the Wei clan, such as two jue, one zhi, and one hu, excavated from the late Shang tombs at Houjiazhuang, Anyang, published in The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 1984, nos 6035, 7486, 7485, and 9463, respectively; three bronze ding in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in ibid., nos 1053, 1054, and 1056; and a jia discovered in Anyang, now in the Xinxiang Museum, Henan province, published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese bronzes], vol. 3, Beijing, 1997, pl. 45.