Page 48 - Deydier Early Chinese Bronzes

round protuberances separated by horizontal lines in light relief, a motif
that was executed by etching it onto the inside of the mould, proof of the
advanced stage that the technique of direct casting had reached by that
early period.

The earliest bronze jue 爵 ritual vessel of the Xia 夏代 took the form of a
thin-walled tripod cup (1mm thick) with a long, straight, deep, canal-like
pourer extending from the top rim of one of its sides.
The area where the spout emerges from the vessel’s body is topped on
each of its sides by a small mushroom-like protrusion. The vessel’s body
becomes narrower as it rises from its lower bulbous base and then
gradually widens as its rises higher to its upper rim. The whole is
supported on three triangular pointed legs and a wide semi-circular
handle extends from one side of the vessel.

The shape of the jue 爵 wine cup underwent several important changes
during the various periods of Erlitou which can be summarised as
follows:

• The jue 爵 excavated from Strata III, Period III of the Erlitou site are
small sized and squat; their triangular feet are very small and their
pouring spouts are fairly short.

Jue 爵 Meiyintang collection

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