Essential Cultural Relics of China in Museums Overseas: Bronze Wares and Gold and Silver Wares

The album series of paintings Essential Cultural Relics of China in Museums Overseas feature 373 items （and groups of items） of Chinese cultural relics collected by the fifth-generation descendant of Weng Tonghe and famous collector Weng Wange and his wife Cheng Huabao when they visited major museums around the world in their early years. The book not only displays these exquisite works of art， but also gives an overall description of them. This album series of pictures is not only a rare collection of historical documents， but also a special guide to a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of cultural relics of China in museums overseas. This volume is Essential Cultural Relics of China in Museums Overseas： Bronze Wares and Gold and Silver Wares.

Essential Cultural Relics of China in Museums Overseas： Bronze Wares and Gold and Silver Wares

Kou Qin

April 2021

China Intercontinental Press

318.00 （CNY）

Kou Qin

Kou Qin， editor-in-chief， deputy secretary general of China Auction Industry Association， director and vice president of China Guardian Auctions Co.， Ltd.， is currently the director， president， and CEO of Guardian Investment. Graduating from the Chinese Department of Wuhan University， he has been engaged in art market circulation， art resource integration and other related work for a long time. Focusing on the exploration of cultural connotations other than commodities， Guardian Library in 2016， striving to preserve many interesting topics and important resources that Guardian has encountered over the past 20–odd years in the form of publications to contribute to the development of Chinese cultural undertakings.

As a significant ritual vessel used for cooking and storing meat in the Shang and Zhou dynasties， ding was of great significance in sacrifice， and has long been deemed as a symbol of state and authority. According to the ding allocation system in the Zhou Dynasty， the king was favoured to use nine ding vessels， a duke was allowed to use seven ding vessels and a baron was allowed to use five ding vessels， which closely integrated ding with identity to enhance social hierarchy and order.

Ritual Cooking Vessel （Fang Ding） is a four-legged square ding， a ritual vessel used for sacrifice. The ding is of a moderate size， but with quite exaggerated ornaments. At each handle， two dragons stand opposite each other. It’s decorated with protruding on four sides and four corners， three-dimensional beast heads at the four legs， and rows of the nipple-nail pattern on the body， which were made pointed and protruding， unlike the rounded and smooth pattern on common vessels. Seen as a whole， the ding looks aggressive and powerful.

This square ding is renowned around the world for the inscription on the interior wall， which reads “for King Cheng.” It means that the ding was made by King Kang， the third ruler of the Western Zhou Dynasty， in honor of the deceased King Cheng， so it is of great historical significance.

The excavation place of the cooking vessel （Fang Ding） is unknown. The earliest traceable owner is Shen Bingcheng， an official and renowned collector of the Qing Dynasty （1636–1912）. In his later life， Shen lived in Suzhou and built the Couple’s Garden Retreat， where a library named “Dieyelu” can be found. A number of famous figures such as Pan Zuyin， Cao Yuanzhong， and Zhang Zhidong were frequent visitors to the Couple’s Garden Retreat.

Over 40 years after the death of Shen Bingcheng， Ritual Cooking Vessel （Fang Ding） was shipped across the ocean and appeared at the exhibition of antique dealer C.T.Loo， and was eventually purchased by the William Rockhill Nelson Trust in 1941， becoming one of the significant collections at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of art.

This round ding is decorated with a silver inlay geometrical pattern. The most complicated pattern lies on the lid where massive silver inlay can be observed， depicting sophisticated geometrical patterns with six silver dragons wriggling across， together forming a structured picture. Three knots on the lid are made in the form of deer. On these fingertip deer-shaped knots， fur and scales made by silver inlay can be seen. With such an advance manufacturing technique and sophisticated design， it’s undeniably a masterpiece amongst bronzes of the Warring States Period.

The gold and silver inlay technique became popular from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty， which required cutting lines on the surface of the bronze vessel and filling in such lines with gold and silver lines before polishing and grinding. The gold and silver inlay technique was very complicated and required expensive materials， making it an exclusive supply for the nobility.

In the summer of 1928， an area sank in Jincun， Luoyang， due to the impact of the rainstorm， exposing an ancient tomb where plenty of exquisite burial objects were found， including this round ding. After the accident， various people gathered here， including Canadian missionary William Charles White and American Warner， to rob the ancient tomb groups in Jincun for six years， leading to the plunder of thousands of cultural relics.

In 1939， this round ding was exhibited in New York through C.T.Loo， which was collected by famous collector Alfred F. Pillsbury. Renowned sinologist Bernhard Karlgrem compiled a catalog for the bronze collection of Pillsbury， A Catalogue of the Chinese Bronzes in the Alfred F. Pillsbury Collection， in which this ding was included （No. 47）. Pillsbury died in 1950. According to his will， more than 900 Asian artifacts， including over 100 bronze vessels， were donated to the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

As a food vessel used for storing cooked grain， gui is a significant ritual vessel dating to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Usually， gui is used together with ding in even numbers during banquet and sacrifice and closely related to social status. For instance， the king favored using nine dings and eight guis.

This gui bears no inscription. Judging by the style， it is a piece from the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Unlike classical gui types with a square base or lid from the Western Zhou Dynasty， this Ritual Grain Server （Gui） with Spikes， Ribs and Dragons followed the traditional style since the Shang Dynasty but with exaggerated decorations. Similar to Ritual Cooking Vessel （Fang Ding）， it has a pointed and protruding nipple-nail pattern on the body. Unlike typical guis， it has four thick handles， making it appear more dignified than those with two handles. On each of the handles， at least twenty well-arranged ox head ornaments can be found， which is quite a genuine design not commonly seen on similar vessels.

This Ritual Grain Server （Gui） with Spikes， Ribs and Dragons was reportedly unearthed at Daijia Bay， Baoji， Shaanxi Province in the 1920s and presumably a piece of the second bronze jin set （the first set is the well-renowned fanjin vessel set formally collected by Duanfang and now collected at the Metropolitan Museum of Art）. The Freer Gallery of Art acquired the gui from New York antique dealer C.T.Loo in 1931.

Gong is a kind of wine vessel dating to the Shang and Zhou dynasties， including ring-foot and four-foot types. The most distinctive feature is that gong generally have a lid decorated with a high-relief beast， demonstrating unique ferocious beauty.

This gong appears beautifully turquoise， featuring a neat shape， wide body， and narrow bottom. With a ring foot and single handle， the gong has a wide spout as the neck of the beast to support the beast-shape lid. The beast on the lid has sharp canine teeth， a pair of high-relief ears and horns on its head， bristles on its back， and a pointed and curly dragon-shaped tail. This gong features an exquisite design in terms of overall shape and details， making it truly a masterpiece of Shang gong.

This gong was reportedly unearthed at Anyang. Judging from the style and shape， it is indeed a typical quality bronze vessel dating from the late Shang Dynasty. It’s now collected at the Art Institute of Chicago with the date of inclusion unknown. According to records of Chen Mengjia， this gong belonged to New York antique dealer C.T.Loo in the 1940s， so it can be inferred that it was collected by the Art Institute of Chicago after the 1940s. In addition， according to information provided by C.T.Loo， this gong included two pieces， and one of them had repair marks.