A MASSIVE ARCHAIC BRONZE VESSEL AND COVER, HU Spring and Autumn Period (2)A MASSIVE ARCHAIC BRONZE VESSEL AND COVER, HUSpring and Autumn PeriodThe compressed pear-shaped body supported on a tall spreading foot, crisply cast on a leiwen ground with two undulating wave bands enclosing detached C-scrolls and O-shapes around the lower bulging body, below a smaller register of stylized dragons and another wave band at the neck, interrupted by a pair of handles issuing from reticulated dragon heads, all above three rows of overlapping pendent lappets around the pierced foot, the cover cast with a zoomorphic band around the rim, surmounted by six everted reticulated lappets encircling a large central medallion of entwining serpents enclosed by a sawtooth border, the surface with light malachite encrustation. 72cm (28 3/8in) high. (2).春秋 青銅龍紋鋪首波曲紋壺Provenance:Acquired in Taiwan, 1990s (by repute)Formerly in the collection of a late member of the Ching Wan Society, Taipei (by repute)An Asian private collection來源:1990年代購於台灣（據傳）台灣清翫雅集成員舊藏（據傳）亞洲私人收藏This massive wine vessel with its dramatic crown-shaped cover is a magnificent example of the flamboyant style of bronze vessels that was developed in the latter part of the Western Zhou dynasty and continued to become even more elaborate in the early Eastern Zhou dynasty.For the development of this unique form and decoration, compare a 'Spring and Autumn' period hu vessel excavated in Shanxi province, Xi County, but with eight everted reticulated lappets encircling the cover, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2018, vol.4, p.410, pl.340; a late Spring and Autumn period Huanzi Mengjiang hu vessel in the Shanghai Museum collection with the cover missing, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete Collection of Chinese Archaic Bronzes], Beijing, 1998, vol.9, p.24, pl.23. The same detached C-scrolls on the present vessel remain in vogue from the mid Western Zhou dynasty to the 'Spring and Autumn' period, compare with the body of a Western Zhou dynasty King Xiao period Xiaoke ding vessel in the Shanghai Museum collection, illustrated by P.F. Chen in Xiashangzhou qingtongqi yanjiu: XiZhou pian (The Study of Archaic Bronzes in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties: Western Zhou Dynasty), vol.1, Shanghai, 2004, p.247, pl.300. The reticulated design of the dragon-head handles appears also on a Western Zhou dynasty bronze 'dragon' handles hu in the Shanghai Museum collection, illustrated in ibid., p.534, pl.411; yet such design is more commonly seen on 'Spring and Autumn' period hu vessels, see two further comparable examples of a mid 'Spring and Autumn' period kui dragon square-sectioned vase in the National Museum of China, and a late Spring and Autumn period Cai hou square-sectioned vase in the Anhui Provincial Museum, both illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (Complete Collection of Chinese Archaic Bronzes), Beijing, 1998, vols.7 and 8, pls.74 and 62. Other massive hu vessels with handles issuing from reticulated dragon heads, and with a body decorated with detached C-scrolls and cover flanged with everted reticulated lappets excavated in Hubei were published in The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2018, vol.12, pls.225, 314 and 315; see also a related bronze hu vessel sold at Sotheby's New York, 15 September 2011, lot 1118.蓋作六瓣鏤空花瓣形，外侈，蓋緣飾象鼻龍紋一周，雷紋填地，粗頸微束，兩側鑄龍形鋪首，龍角鏤空呈扇形，張口露齒，頸部飾波曲紋一周，其下飾象鼻龍紋一周，溜肩鼓腹，腹部飾兩圈波曲紋，圈足外撇，足壁滿飾交龍紋。青銅酒壺一般作為盛酒器，在兩周禮器中至關重要。周代鑒於商代濫酒荒淫，周公旦頒布《酒誥》總結商朝滅亡的教訓，提醒後世周天子及諸侯謹遵文王只有祭祀才能飲酒，且不能飲醉之教誨。故而西周早中期青銅酒器較少，而食器較多，而酒器則一般用作禮器。平王東遷之後，禮崩樂壞，青銅酒器製作日趨誇張繁複。此壺體量巨大，重心下垂尤顯敦實。山西省隰縣出土一對春秋青銅波曲紋壺，惟蓋頂蓮瓣為八瓣，雙耳之上再出象鼻，其器型、波曲紋、象鼻龍紋乃至龍頭鋪首之雙角與本件頗似，見《中國出土青銅器全集》，北京，2018年，卷4，頁410，編號340。上海博物館藏一件春秋晚期洹子孟姜壺，與本件亦頗類，惟蓋已失，見《中國青銅器全集》，北京，1998年，卷9，頁24，編號23。本壺所飾大波曲紋西周中期以來流行直到春秋時期，如上海博物館藏西周孝王時期小克鼎腹部便主要裝飾此種大波曲紋，見陳佩芬著，《夏商周青銅器研究：西周篇》，上海，2004年，卷上，頁247，編號300。本壺雙耳之扇形鏤空龍角西周晚期已經出現，比較上海博物館藏一件青銅龍紋壺雙耳龍角壺，見前書，頁534，編號411；而飾以此種扇形鏤空頭角雙耳之銅壺較多出現於春秋時期，可比較中國國家博物館藏一件春秋中期夔龍紋方壺，以及安徽省博物館藏一件春秋晚期蔡侯方壺，見《中國青銅器全集》，卷7及8， 編號74及62。 此類帶鏤空蓮冠之波曲紋大壺湖北出土數例春秋銅壺可資參考，其雙耳頭部亦如此件作鏤空扇形，見《中國出土青銅器全集》，卷12，編號225、314、315。紐約蘇富比售出一件青銅圓壺，其波曲紋及壺身形態與本件頗為相關，2011年9月15日，拍品編號1118。