Browse: 10610 objects
Ritual tripod wine vessel, or jue, with taotie mask pattern
- loan
-
Details
- Associated place
- Date
-
13th - 12th century BC (1300 - 1101 BC)
Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 - c. 1050 BC)
- Material and technique
- bronze
- Dimensions
- 19.5 x 16.2 x 7.5 cm (height x width x depth)
- Material index
-
processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › bronze
- Technique index
- Object type index
-
religious/ritual equipment › offering equipment › offering-vessel › libation-vessel › libation-cup › jue,religious/ritual equipment › offering equipment › libation equipment › libation-vessel › libation-cup › jue,religious/ritual equipment › religious/ritual vessel › offering-vessel › libation-vessel › libation-cup › jue,container › vessel › wine-vessel,container › vessel › cup › libation-cup › jue
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.3
-
Further reading
University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. B4
Glossary (2)
jue, taotie
-
jue
Chinese bronze ritual wine vessel.
-
taotie
Stylized monster mask decoration with prominent eyes and scrolling horns. The motif has been known since the 1100s. Its significance remains mysterious.
Location
-
- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
-
The Barlow Collection
Similar pieces were discovered in the tomb of Lady Hao, consort of king Wu Ding, at Anyang, Henan province, who was buried with very rich provisions around 1200 BC.
The piece has a very deep U-shaped cup, raised on three pointed, slightly curved triangular legs, and terminating in a long chanelled spout, flanked by two vertical posts, opposite a pointed collar. The cup has a curved handle with a pictograph underneath, and is decorated with a broad band of taotie designs, the masks composed of fine linear scroll motifs with prominent boss-shaped eyes, centred on and separated by notched flanges. Above the band are triangular cicada motifs, which extend into elongated blades under the spout and collar. The posts are flat on the outside and curved on the inside, capped by conical tops decorated with spiralling motifs. The piece is thickly encrusted with green patina. The pictograph is a clan sign in the shape of a dog.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum