Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Of opaque pale beige-green jade with darker patches and veins, the piece is thickly carved in form of an archaic bronze vessel, with a curved bowl with flaring rim on a flaring foot, flanked by two wide curved handles. The bowl is decorated with vertical ribs, the rim border with a central raised feline head, two flanges on either side, and highly stylized archaistic dragon and bird motifs between. The foot is divided by four flanges and shows archaistic motifs vaguely suggestive of animal forms. The handles are protruding from feline masks with raised angular ears and carved eyes, eyebrows, snout and teeths, and have hooked flanges at the lower end.