Page 26 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

mere physical tension. Pins anchor the handles in place, their flattened
heads discernible on the interior of the neck; bits of applied molten metal
reinforce the bond, securing the handles in place. Also in Song fashion, the
decorative elements, taotie masks, leiwen patterns, and dragon interlaces,
were integrally cast with the vessel parts and show minimal post-casting
cold work (engraving, chiseling, or other techniques). The interlaced dragon
designs were likely stamped into the wax used to prepare the mold for
casting. The overall pattern of stamped designs was not tailored to the
exact size and configuration of the decorative panels, however, with the
result that the strapwork borders cut midway through design elements.
Strapwork moldings in combination with interlaced dragon designs
on the body and taotie masks on the neck are typical features of Song-
dynasty bronzes. 10 Reinforcing the attribution of this archaistic hu to the
Song dynasty are its reliance on casting (rather than cold-working tech-
niques) as the primary means of creating the decoration and the arbitrary
relationship between the interlaced-dragon panels and their strapwork
borders (resulting in the bisecting of numerous dragon elements). Un-
intended residues from casting, the extraneous traces of bronze that cloud
parts of the dragon interlace, are also a feature of Song bronzes, attesting
to the lack of extensive cold working.
The function of this bronze remains uncertain. One of the most per-
sistent of ancient vessel types, the hu served as a wine storage jar during
the many centuries of the Bronze Age, from the Shang through the Han
dynasties. Made a thousand years later, the Clague hu could have been
designed as a wine vessel for use in newly revived Confucian ceremonies,
though it more likely served as a large vase. (The Southern Song guan-ware
hu vessels mentioned above were almost certainly intended as flower vases,
for example.) There is also the possibility that with its archaistic style and
inscription the Clague hu was sold as an antique and brought joy to an
unsuspecting collector 11 who assumed it to be from the golden age of
Confucius (551-479 BC).

26 C H I N A ' S R E N A I S S A N C E IN B R O N Z E