'Min' Fanglei Returns to Hunan Provincial Museum

With the concerted efforts made by public agencies, private companies and enthusiasts, the ‘Min’ Fanglei will finally come to its home country. Facilitated by the Christie’s in New York, the current owner and a group of private collectors from Hunan made an agreement on March 19 (New York Time) after close consultation over the last several days to allow the ‘King of all Fangleis’ to come back to its place of origin in Hunan. And it will be permanently collected by Hunan Provincial Museum where the lid is kept.

“Min” Fanglei was found in 1922 at Qijiahe, Taoyuan County in Hunan Province, China.

Fanglei is a kind of wine vessel in ancient China. ‘Min’ Fanglei’s massive size distinguishes the vessel as one of the foremost examples of its kind. It is 84.8cm high, 63.6cm wide, whose lid resembles the hip roof (a typical style of traditional roofs in ancient China). At the bottom are decorated with cloud thunder patterns and the surface is intricately cast with stylized animals and mysterious monster marks such as Kui Long and Phoenix, providing a fascinating insight into early Chinese culture and beliefs. With rectangular mouths, straight neck and round foot, it has two loops as decoration. At the lower part of the front side is a handle in the shape of beast head. Besides, there are eight characters inscriptions carved on the lid and six characters inscriptions on the body. So far, this Fanglei is the biggest one among the unearthed bronze vessels created during Shang and Zhou Dynasties the world has ever seen.