#shang dynasty art
Spouted Ritual Wine Vessel with Cover (Gong)
Period: Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 B.C.)
Date: mid-10th century B.C.
Culture: China
Medium: Bronze
Animal Ewer (Guang or Gong) - Bronze Age Chinese
(1046 - 771 BC)
Bronze ewers, like this one appeared late in the Shang dynasty and continued to be made throughout the Zhou dynasty. Also called guangs (gongs), these bronze ewers are distinguishable due to some characteristic features: a zoomorphic lid and handle, usually a one-footed base, the use of the squared spiral (lei-wen) to fill in empty space and they are decorated in mid to low-relief. Naturalistic representations of live animals were mainly produced in the southern Chinese provinces, while mythical animals were seen on guangs from the northern Chinese provinces. For this particular ewer I was not able to distinguish whether is depicts a mythical animal or a real one. However, rams were commonly depicted on these, and this creature sports head gear that could be interpreted as rams horns.
Ewers like these would have poured rice (or grain) wine at ancestor worship rituals and were commonly left behind as a grave good in a high-status burial.
Info. from Freer and Sackler Galleries andWikipedia
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