Rubbings from the Inscribed Bronze Wine Vessel “Quan Bo” Jia

Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–ca. 1100 b.c.e.), undated

Hanging scroll, ink rubbed on paper; 132.8 x 53.1 cm; height of rubbing of vessel: approx. 38.0 x 27.0 cm; height of rubbing of inscription: approx. 9.0 x 3.0 cm

Date of rubbing not given; Qing dynasty (1644–1911), late 19th–early 20th century

Inventory number: Biaozhou 512

Over the course of many decades, the National Library of China has assembled a collection of more than 3,000 rubbings taken from inscribed bronze vessels and instruments.  Some 2,000 of these rubbings are from vessels and instruments of the Shang, Zhou, and Warring States periods.  A significant proportion are so-called quanxing ta (full-figured rubbings) of bronze vessels.  Great skill is required for making these kinds of rubbings in which proper gradations of dark and light ink bring out the vessel's three-dimensional aspects.

This full-figured rubbing was taken from a late Shang bronze vessel known from its inscription as the "Quan Bo" jia, a tripod type of drinking vessel that also functioned as a ritual vessel used for storing and carrying wine.  This type of vessel, produced between the late Shang and early Zhou periods, was consciously designed in a mannered way.  A single- or two-character inscription—probably the name of an ancestor or a clan—on the inner surface of jia is typical of Shang ritual bronzes. Jin wen (bronze inscriptions) are crucial to dating a given object, determining the identity of its commissioner, and establishing its function.