This impressive bronze vessel is one of the only four extant San Bo Gui, which have been treasured by renowned bronze connoisseurs and scholars since the late Qing dynasty. The 'San Bo Gui' set is very well known in the world of jinshixue 金石學 (epigraphy). As described by Laurence Sickman, 'they are bronzes of high artistic merit and bear an inscription which is already well known in Chinese literature on ancient writing' ('The Kuei of the Prince of San,' Bulletin of the Fogg Museum of Art, vol. IX, no. 2, March 1940, pp 29-29). Each of the four San Bo Gui is cast with a same twelve-character inscription to both the vessel and the cover. The inscription can be translated to 'San Bo made this precious gui for Ze Ji, to be used eternally for ten thousand years'.

Zou An (1864-1940) provided a detailed record about the 'San Bo Gui' set in his acclaimed book Zhou jinwen cun [Surviving bronze inscriptions from the Zhou dynasty], vol. 3, 1915, p. 3 (fig. 1). Zou noted that the San Bo Gui were discovered in Fengxiang, Shaanxi province. There were originally five vessels, two of which were acquired by Yu Shouping of Anhui, and two came into the possession of a governor of Fengxiang. In his text, Zou did not discuss the fifth gui. The two vessels that belonged to Yu were lost after the collapse of the Qing dynasty. In 1912, one vessel appeared on the market in Shanghai and was immediately bought by a gentleman by the name of Mr. Cheng. In 1914, the governor of Fengxiang made known his pair, one of which had the inscriptions cast in mirror image (the present vessel). Zou described the pair to have a brilliant, ancient green patina. Unfortunately, he was not able to purchase the pair as the governor's asking price was very high, nor could he make an ink rubbings of the inscriptions at that t.mes . Zou later obtained the inscription rubbings s from Xu Naichang (1869-1946) and reproduced them in his book.

Among the four known extant San Bo Gui, the present vessel is the only one available in private hands; the remaining three are preserved in major museums in China and the United States. One (fig. 2), previously owned by Mr. Albert Y.P. Lee's parents, Mr. Li Yingshuan and Mrs. Qiu Hui, who later donated to the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, is published in Chen Peifen, Xiashangzhou qingtongqi yanjiu [Study of archaic bronzes from Shang, Shang and Zhou dynasties], Xizhou, vol. 1, Shanghai, 2004, pl. 334.

The remaining two were acquired in 1939 by the Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge. One (fig. 3), illustrated in Laurence Sickman, op. cit., p. 29, has remained in the museum (accession no. 1939.202); and the other (fig. 4), subsequently collects ed by Irene and Earl Morse and Charlotte C. and John C. Weber before entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1988 (accession no. 1988.20.3a, b), was included in the museum's exhibition Spirit and Ritual. The Morse collects ion of Ancient Chinese Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, cat. no. 18.

Wu Zhenfeng suggested that the owner of this gui, San Bo, was the leader of the San state (see Jinwen renming huibian [Compilation of the names from bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 2006, p. 310). San was a well-known state during the Western Zhou dynasty. The San clan descended from San Yisheng 散宜生, who was one of the most prestigious officials in the early Western Zhou dynasty and was regarded as one of the 'Four Friends' of King Wen of Zhou (proposed reign dates c. 1056-c. 1047 BC). He and a few other loyal officials saved King Wen, who was imprisoned at Youli by Di Xin, the last king of the Shang dynasty. After the death of King Wen, San Yisheng continued to serve during the reigns of King Wu and King Cheng (see Chen Yingfei, 'Qinghuajian 'Liangchen' San Yisheng yu xizhou jinwen zhong de sanshi [San Yisheng recorded in 'Liangchen' from the Qinghua Bamboo Strips and the members from the San clan in the Western Zhou inscriptions]', Chutu wenxian [Excavated Documents], Shanghai, 2016, pp 74-76).

The inscription on the San Bo Gui provides valuable documentation to the matrimonial ties between the states of San and Ze during the middle Western Zhou period. Ze Ji, the bride, for whom this vessel was made, had the family name of Ji 姬, which suggests her royal lineage to the Zhou court. However, depending on the relationship of San Bo to Ze Ji (father or husband) either the San state or the Ze state could have the family name of Ji. There has been much debate among scholars on which state was related to the Zhou royal family. Chen Yingfei argues that the ruler of the Ze state had been referred to in related bronze inscriptions as the 'Ze King' throughout the Western Zhou dynasty. The 'kings' during this period, other than the Zhou king, who was the rightful Son of Heaven, were leaders of nearby tribes. They were not considered vassal states of the Zhou, and as such, it is unlikely that Ze had the family name of Ji (op. cit., p. 81). Chen's conclusion implies that San Bo, an aristocrat related to the Zhou royal family, made this vessel as a dowry for his daughter Ze Ji, who married into the Ze state.

Based on archaeological evidence, Lu Liancheng and Yin Shengping suggested that the Ze state should have been located along the Qian River 汧水, more specifically in today's Long county 隴縣, Qianyang county 千陽縣, and Jia village 賈村 north of Baoji. The authors further concluded that San, as a neighboring state of Ze, should have resided in the regions of today's Baoji and Fengxiang county (fig. 5); see Lu Liancheng and Yin Shengping, 'Gu Zeguo yizhi and mudi diaocha ji / Reconnaissance of the Sites and Tombs of the State of Ze', Wenwu, no. 2, Beijing, 1982, p. 57.

The relationship between the states of San and Ze was harmonious until the late Western Zhou dynasty. According to the inscription of the famous San Shi Pan (fig. 6), Ze attacked San during the period of King Li of Zhou (c. 877-841 BC). This friction ended with Ze ceding land to San in exchange for peace. The two states held a ceremony for the land transfer, witnessed by multiple officials from both sides in the enforcement of this agreement. The histories of San and Ze have long fascinated scholars and collects ors, and there is ongoing research and debate on this topic. However, very limited information about the two states is recorded in the Chinese classical literatures. Bronze inscriptions, therefore, become the primary source of evidence. The San Bo Gui, as part of a small group of surviving 'San' vessels, undeniably plays a critical part in telling the stories of these two ancient states.

本品為存世四件散伯簋之一，知名吉金重器。散伯簋自晚清出土後一直備受青銅鑑賞名家與學者青睞。散伯簋在中外金石界廣為人知，正如美國藝術史學家勞倫斯 • 史克門所言：「它體現了古人超凡卓絕的青銅工藝，更見其銘文著錄聞名於世」（〈The Kuei of the Prince of San〉，《Bulletin of the Fogg Museum of Art》，卷6，期2，1940年3月，頁29）。存世四件散伯簋每件器內及蓋內均鑄有十二字銘文「散伯作夨姬寶簋 其萬年永用」。

鄒安（1864-1940）在其著作《周金文存》中對散伯簋有著詳細記錄（卷3，1915年，頁3）（圖一）。鄒氏記散伯簋於陝西鳳翔出土。原共五器，其二由安徽余壽平所得，另外兩件則由陝西鳳翔某太守收藏。鄒氏並未論及第五器之所踪。余壽平所藏的兩件散伯簋在清朝覆沒後散佚，其中之一在1912年重現上海市場，旋即由程氏購藏。1914年，前述鳳翔太守亦攜其兩件散伯簋來，其中一件的器、蓋銘為鏡像文字（即本品）。鄒安形容其為蒼翠耀目。可惜，當時太守索價太高，鄒氏無緣入藏，亦未能得一銘拓。所幸鄒安在此後從徐乃昌（1896-1946）處獲贈了一份拓本，並錄入所著書中。

如今存世四件散伯簋中，僅本簋可流通，其餘三器均已被中美知名博物館所收藏。三件之一曾由李爾白先生的父母李蔭軒先生與邱輝女士所藏（圖二），後被捐贈至上海博物館，並錄於陳佩芬所著《夏商周青銅器研究》，西周上，上海，2004年，圖版334。

另外兩件則在1939年由劍橋福格藝術博物館購得，其中一件（圖三）現仍藏於該館（館藏編號1939.202），並錄於勞倫斯 • 史克門，前述出處，頁29，另一件（圖四）此後先後為 Irene 及 Earl Morse 伉儷及 Charlotte C. 及 John C. Weber 伉儷收藏，並於1988年入藏紐約大都會藝術博物館（館藏編號1988.20.3a, b），展於《Spirit and Ritual: The Morse collects ion of Ancient Chinese Art》，大都會藝術博物館，紐約，1982年，編號18。

吳鎮烽認為散伯簋器主散伯應為散國族首領（見《金文人名匯編》，北京，2006年，頁310）。散國為西周時期著名封國，其族氏應為西周早期最著名的周室大臣之一散宜生的後人。散宜生為周文王「四友」之一。周文王曾一度被商紂王帝辛困於羑里，後即是被散宜生及其他幾位文王重臣所救。周文王離世後，散宜生繼續扶持周武王和周成王，共仕三位君主（參考陳穎飛，〈清華簡《良臣》散宜生與西周金文中的散氏〉，《出土文獻》，上海，2016年，頁74-76）。

散伯簋的銘文為散國與夨國這兩個鄰邦在西周中期的邦交提供了珍貴線索。此銘文證實兩國當時結姻親之好。夨姬為來自於姬姓國的女子，姬姓為周王室之姓。然而取決於散伯與夨姬的關係（父女或夫妻），散國或夨國皆有可能為姬姓。長久以來學界對此問題有過很多爭論。陳穎飛參考相關青銅器的銘文，論述西周早至晚期，夨國國君始終稱王，而西周分封的諸侯國在金文中尚無稱王之例，因而夨只能為周土鄰近的異姓之國，而非周室封建之諸侯，故此則夨國應並非姬姓（前述出處，頁81）。以陳氏觀點推論，散伯當為周王朝姬姓貴族，製此簋為其嫁入夨國的女兒作以嫁妝。

盧連成與尹盛平根據考古遺址推測，夨國應位於汧水之側，所在範圍約為今隴縣、千陽縣以及寶雞以北的賈村一帶。兩位學者由此另作推斷，散國作為夨國之鄰近邦國，應位於今寶雞鳳翔一帶（圖五）；詳見盧連成與尹盛平，〈古夨國遺址、墓地調查記〉，《文物》，期2，北京，1982年，頁57。

散國與夨國的和睦關係到了西周晚期出現了裂痕。西周散氏器中最為著名的國寶重器散氏盤（圖六）記載了厲王時期夨國攻打散國後割地議和之事，兩國詳細規定了轉讓土地的範圍，並各自出使了多名官員出席交地儀式。散、夨兩國的關係與歷史長久以來一直是學者與藏家爭相研究討論的課題，但流傳的古文獻中極少記載兩國的史料，青銅器銘文也因而成為研究兩國歷史的主要資料根據。存世散氏器為數不多，散伯簋作為其中一員，對於揭示這兩個古國的歷史有著無可否認的重大意義。