Page 313 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

io8

Painted lacquer dou container and the lid, each carved from a single piece of

5
Height 24.3 (9 / 8) wood (fig. i). The domed lid has an almost oval
section,
compressed
on two sides to
accommodate
Warring States Period (c. 433 BCE)
the two large handles supported by the rim of the
From the tomb of Zenghou Yi at Leigudun, Suixian,
cup. The walls of the shallow cup flare out smoothly
Hubei Province
and rest on a massive stem, which tapers evenly to a
Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan wide, flared base. Given its shallow interior, the cup
was apparently not intended to hold much food.
One of a pair of identical cups from Marquis Yi s The decoration of the object is based on con-
1
tomb, this dou was discovered in the burial cham- trasts of colors and technique. The top of the lid
ber, together with a pair of similarly shaped, but and the entire surface of the handles are carved in
slightly taller and differently decorated stemmed raised relief, with motifs so intricate as to be indi-
cups. The placement of these objects suggests that vidually nearly indiscernible. In the middle of the
they were intended for the marquis' personal use lid, an oval medallion represents three dragons
and not for ritual. facing outward and swallowing up other dragons;
This dou, which presents a massive, even archi- only the claws, eyes (represented by two red dots),
tectural profile, is composed of two parts: the body and mouths of the creatures are clearly outlined;

312 | CHU AND O T H E R C U L T U R E S