Description The rounded body supported by three tubular feet and with two semicircular handles, displays a band of running dragons on leiwen and beneath a frieze of lancet shapes filled with ornaments. Inside at the well a three-character inscription: "fu Jian gao". Modern Japanese lacquered wooden box. The inscription according to Chen Menjia, "Yinxu buci zongshu" most probably refers to the concubine of Shang king Wuding, while according to Guo Moruo, "Gu jiu ke ci zhiyi kaocha", Jiang was the name of the concubine and Gao her clan name. Other examples are the famous "Fu hao's bronzes", Fu hao referring to the wife of Shang Wuding. From the fact that the bronze was excavated in Anyang, the capital of the Shang dynasty, and from the inscription refering to Fu, we can presume that the present ding belonged to the royal family of Wuding. Shang bronzes with a "Fu" character are rare.
Dimensions Height 15.5 cm
Literature According to Liang Shangchun two almost identical ding vessels were excavated in Anyang in the spring of 1940, one of them is the present piece and one of them is illustrated in: Liang Shangchu, Yanku jijin tuli (Catalogue of Auspicious Bronzes in the Yanku Studio), vol. 1, 1943, p. 6-7
Provenance Collection Liang Shangchun (1888-?), China Private collection, Japan
Notes VAT: Margin scheme