Kang Hou gui

Little is known about the original context in which the bowl was found. However, based on its inscription, it is conjectured by archaeologists to have been deposited in Wey, near present-day Huixian in Henan province. Past owners of the vessel include the British diplomat Dugald Malcolm, before the gui was purchased by the British Museum with the support of the Brooke Sewell bequest.[1]

This cast bronze gui is a lavishly decorated food bowl that was used during rituals for worshipping ancestors. This high based vessel has large handles shaped like tusked animal heads that have eaten birds, whose beaks are shown peeking out of their predators' mouths.[2] Between the rim and the incised vertical lines is a narrow band decorated with an animal head and alternating roundels and quatrefoils. A similar band (without the animal heads) is engraved on the foot of the container. The Kang Hou gui was chosen by Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, as object 23 in the BBC Radio programme A History of the World in 100 Objects.[2]

The ancient Chinese inscription on the inside of the bowl tells how King Wu's brother, Kang Hou (Marquis of Kang) was given territory in Wey. The inscription also describes a rebellion by remnants of the Shang dynasty, known as the Rebellion of the Three Guards, and its defeat by the Zhou dynasty, which helps to date the vessel. Because historians know when this unsuccessful rebellion against the Zhou took place, they are able to accurately date the manufacture of this important object to the 11th century BC.[3]

• Huixian Bronze Hu, also in the British Museum

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  Side view of the Gui vessel in the British Museum
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  The vessel viewed from above with inscription in the centre
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  Detail of the Chinese inscription

• J Rawson, The British Museum Book of Chinese Art (London, British Museum Press, 2007)
• J. Rawson, Chinese bronzes: art and ritual (London, The British Museum Press, 1987)