Focus on Ritual wine server (guang), Indianapolis and explore the Description.
This ritual wine server, referred to in Chinese as a guang, is a bronze, piece-mold cast vessel complete with removable lid. Adorning the surface of the vessel are three primary decorative animal motifs, including fifteen imaginary creatures cast in relief along the sides. The first animal depicted is apparent in the overall shape and design of the removable lid. Here a battle-horned beast dominates the wide spout, with its large head merging seamlessly with reverse-S-shaped bodies descending to the base of the vessel. Under the spout, the beast's forepaws appear posed in a position indicating the animal is rearing up on its hind legs. The second animal motif is that of a taotie, a mask designed to look like a monstrous animal. The taotie cast into this vessel sits at the end of the lid, depicted with zoomorphic horns and a sharp, upward curved base. The final animal motif consists of a scaled, serpent-like dragon along the rear register of the vessel. This dragon is curved to look back upon its own tail and the front of the guang. In addition to these three creatures, small birds and dragons have been cast in low relief along the vessel's upper register and the handle is designed to resemble the scaled body of an unidentified creature with an animal face molded into the upper curve.Cast into the underside of the lid is a Chinese character, likely a signature from the vessel's original owner depicting the owner's tribe sign. This particular clan sign has also been noted within several other bronze artifacts dated from this period. For example, a "lei" vessel in the Shanghai Museum collection (H. 46.5 cm), recorded in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji 3.83 (see also Jinchu yinzhou jinwen jilu erbian, Vol.3, p. 197). In the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Köln is a "fangyi" vessel (H. 26.5 cm) that also carries the same emblem (Bagley 1987:137). A third example is the Metropolitan Museum of Art "zun" vessel (H. 39.7 cm), accession number 43.25.1. This has led some scholars to believe that this wine vessel may have been only one of several pieces designed by a single workshop for one influential customer.
zoomorphic Shanghai Museum taotie guang Metropolitan Museum of Art