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Ritual Wine Vessel (gong) in the Shape of a Ram

青銅羊觥

1200s–1000s BCE
(c.1600–1046 BCE)
Bronze
22 cm (8 11/16 in.)
Xike Jiulu Private Collection 3.2023
Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China
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Did You Know?

While the craftsman embellished the vessel with fantastic forms and symbolic patterns, the design also captures anatomical features of a real ram, such as its "comma"-shaped nostrils, eyes with elongated orbits, and horns with parallel ridges.

Description

Ancient bronze vessels in animal form are rare. This bronze is exceptional in its naturalistic sculptural quality and fully embellished surface that includes fantastic animals, tigers, birds, and a diamond-shaped mark on the ram’s forehead. Bronzes comparable in style were excavated in the Yangzi River region and are believed to have been cast in the south. The ram is a stellar example of the sophisticated bronze production in the Yangzi River region.
Ritual Wine Vessel (gong) in the Shape of a Ram

Ritual Wine Vessel (gong) in the Shape of a Ram

1200s–1000s BCE

China, Yangzi River region, Late Shang Dynasty (c.1600–1046 BCE)

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