Browse: 10610 objects
Ritual wine vessel, or gu, with taotie mask pattern
- loan
-
Details
- Associated place
- Date
-
12th century BC (1200 - 1101 BC)
Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 - c. 1050 BC)
- Material and technique
- bronze
- Dimensions
-
31.8 cm (height)
15.5 cm max. (diameter)
- Material index
-
processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › bronze
- Technique index
- Object type index
-
container › vessel › wine-vessel,
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.9
-
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. B10
Glossary (2)
gu, taotie
-
gu
Chinese ritual wine vessel with flaring mouth and foot.
-
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
The tall slender vessel has a short central section with a tall, widely flaring neck and a high trumpet-shaped foot. The piece is decorated around the centre with a taotie design divided by four raised notched flanges with prominent eyes and stylized raised eyebrows, ears, horns and fangs, all on a dense scrollwork ground. The foot shows a similar design with a band of dragon motifs above; and the neck has a band of snake motifs and similar masks decorating four elongated blades. Between body and foot is a plain band with double raised lines and two cross-shaped piercings from casting. The surface has a patchy green patina with areas of brown.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum