Date: Mid-Shang (mid 15th - 13th century BC)
Dimensions: Height 31.3 cm, Diameter of mouth 18.4 cm
Weight: 1,850 g
Material: Bronze

• Object Type：
  • BRONZE
• Location：
  • Ancient Chinese Bronze Gallery
• Tag：
  • jia animal-mask wine vessel mid-shang bronze

Jia is a wine vessel used for sacrificial rituals. From the traces of soot on the outer base and the white watermark in the belly, it can be deduced that it is also a vessel used to heat wine. Bronze Jia appeared in the late Xia and its shape matured by the mid-Shang. In the mid-Shang dynasty, they usually had a flat bottom, so a pouch-shaped like this was quite uncommon. 
The surface of the vessel is decorated with animal-mask motif with dense and exaggerated lines, showing a mysterious and dignified style. It is the only piece with such decoration among the existing bronze Jia of the mid-Shang dynasty.