Ink rubbing of the inscription cast on the lid of a 'gui' vessel of the late Western Zhou dynasty (c 11th century - 771 BCE)

The ink rubbing was taken from the famous inscription cast on a bronze 'gui' vessel, which was once in Duan Fang's collection. The ink rubbing was mounted on a piece of circular silk and Duan Fang wrote an inscription on it, which reads: 'Inscription on the lid of the 'gui' made by Fansheng, for niece Xun, by old man Tao.' The calligraphic inscription is followed by a seal of Duan Fang, which reads 'Taoweng (old man Tao)'. There is an illegible seal on the lower right corner. From the inscription it is clear that it was a gift to his niece Tao Zhongchen [mother of the donor of this piece, Nancy Lee]. The original inscription on the 'gui' vessel is recorded in 'Yinzhou jinwen jicheng (Collection of the bronze inscriptions from bronzes of the Yin and Zhou dynasties)', ed. The Research Institute of Archaeology, Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 1984-94 [18 vols], vol. 8, no. 4326, and was named as 'fansheng guigai'.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, June 2008.