Date: Mid-Shang (mid 15th - 13th century BC)
Dimensions: Height 25.3 cm, Diameter of mouth 5 cm, Diameter of base 10.1 cm
Weight: 1,660 g
Material: Bronze

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

The pattern of this pot is similar to the lines on the pottery of the Longshan Culture and those on the jade deity's head of the Liangzhu Culture, very likely to be a non-realistic. Pots of the same shape have been unearthed in the Central Plains region, usually with a loop handle. The two rings can be threaded with a rope, which has a similar function as a loop handle. Bronze vessels prior to the mid-Shang have not yet been found with specific inscriptions. But on the inside wall of the ring foot of this pot is cast with a character ‘X’, like a small cross, which should be the clan emblem. This is one of the earliest inscriptions on bronzes found so far.