Zun (Ritual Wine Storage Vessel)

Place of OriginChina

Date13th - 11th century BCE

DimensionsH: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)
diam: 12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm)

Mediumbronze

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1958.6

Not on View

Label TextDecorated with intricate patterns in low relief, this ritual vessel for storing wine, called a zun, may have been used in ceremonial offerings to departed ancestors. Like the ancient Egyptian culture, we know much of early Chinese civilization through their funerary art, as they too planned extensively for the afterlife. The tombs often included a variety of bronze vessels in the tomb furniture to cover various sacrificial functions. These containers mostly held food and wine, and some excavated vessels still contain the remains of the contents. In addition to the interlocking geometrical patterns, this wine beaker is decorated with a variety of highly stylized animal masks, known as taotie, which are used extensively on most Shang Dynasty bronzes. Their meaning is unclear, but taotie are variously described as fearsome monsters meant to scare away evil forces or as dragons symbolizing magical powers. Some scholars associate them with designs reflecting the order and power of the kings. On this example, the taotie are identified by two circular knobs representing eyes, a raised flange between the eyes representing a snout, and meandering patterns above and below the eyes suggesting abstract ears and a wide jaw. Further decorations include stylized cicadas, evocative of rebirth, and in high relief, a series of rams' heads, which decorate the shoulder of the zun. Rams were one of the chief animals sacrificed in ceremonies honoring the ancestors, a function that may explain their presence on this ritual vessel.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 20, repr. (col.).