Gui food vessel

myminifactory

Stylized animal motifs prevail in Shang bronze ornamentation. Dragons, snakes, cicadas, rams, owls, tigers, and even elephants frequently appear. However, these creatures were almost always secondary to the taotie (composite animal) mask, which typically dominates the largest or most prominent register of nearly all Shang bronzes. This exquisite food vessel, an early form of the gui with looped handles that became characteristic particularly in the Western Zhou dynasty, features three such masks clearly cast in high relief encircling its basin. Beneath each mask, in the foot strip, are two opposing dragons depicted in profile, while four similar dragons appear above each mask in the top ornamental band. The precise meaning of the taotie mask remains unknown. A nine-character inscription cast on the interior bottom may signify branches of a large clan. This artifact was scanned by The Minneapolis Institute of Art.