Page 173 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Bronze fangjia vessel ground, an ornament that undercuts the readability
or integrity of the mask motif. Altogether, the as-
Height 67 (26 Ys), weight 19.2 (42 'A) semblage of vessels made for Fu Hao shows a con-
Late Shang Yinxu Period II (c. 1200 BCE) siderable variety of decoration, belying the notion
From Xiaotun Locus North, at Yinxu, Anyang,
Henan Province of any simple and predictable evolution over time
from one characteristic decorative style to another.
The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Beijing This vessel is one of three large fangjia made for
Fu Hao. It was found with another, round-section
In addition to innovative animal-shaped vessels, the vessel of similar scale and other jia bearing the
Anyang foundries produced vessels in new, square- names of other lineages; it may be that the gift of
section (fang) shapes. While ding made as rectangu- jue and gu from the Si Tu Mu, Ya Qi, and Shu Quan
lar vessels appear in other periods, square-section lineages included these warming vessels, as well
vessels are limited to the Late Shang. Such vessel as the serving vessels. The tomb assemblage also
types include pod-base vessels for warming or serv- held large containers with two of these inscriptions
ing wine (jue, jia, he) and several ring-base types for identifying their owner's lineage. The true nature
drinking and storing wine (gu, lei, zun, hu, as well as of the gifts from these lineages therefore may well
the new fangyi). The attraction of this shape for have been both a large quantity of alcoholic spirits
potters in foundries might have included the ease and the equipment to use it. RT
of making outer mold sections from a square model
or core, the opportunities that the wide, flat field 1 Zhongguo 19983, 93 - 94.
2 Excavated in 1976 (M 5752); reported: Zhongguo 1980,
presented for decoration with large, graphic im- 67-68.
agery, and possibly the implied distinction from
ceramic, wheel-made prototypes. (Square-section
vessels were not produced as pottery.) While an
interest in fang vessels was apparently widespread,
it does not seem to have endured: The fangjia from
Tomb 5 are the only examples from the period
(Yinxu II) at Anyang; another pair from Tomb 160
(Yinxu III) are the only later traces of this variant
among excavated examples. 1
The formal innovations introduced by the de-
2
signers of this vessel include a body and tall neck
in square-section complemented by relief decora-
tion and fairly thick flanges. Other details, however,
might be deemed less successful aesthetically: the
four squared legs are very thick and create a con-
gested appearance where they join the flat base.
The square posts and caps dominate the rim and
detract from the visual buoyancy of the;iVs usually
sleek form.
The masks that fill the four sides of the body
are composed of disparate elements in relief rather
than the unified face that decorates the fangding
(cat. 46). These elements are covered with the same
tight, squared spirals that appear in the back-

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