Back to list Gui food container with twin-dragon pattern, Early Western Zhou dynasty

Description

This vessel has a small mouth and rotund belly, with animal-shaped half-ring handles from which square earrings hang. The ring foot is flared outward. The vessel is decorated with twin-dragon designs, with corresponding columnar horns and spiral horns protruding from the vessel lid, while the bodies of the twin dragons wrap around the belly of the vessel. When the lid is fitted onto the vessel, the heads and bodies of the dragons form a complete and whole image. Similar decorative patterns can be seen on the "Lidded Ritual Ewer (he) with Human-Faced Dragons," housed in the Freer Gallery of Art in the United States. On the underside of this vessel, three characters stating, "Zuo Bao Yi (To be used as a treasured ritual vessel)," were inscribed at a later date.

Exhibits

• Rituals Cast in Brilliance: Masterpieces of Bronzes in the Museum Collection Ongoing exhibition