Page 337 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Bronze zun vessel inlaid with gold and silver box and beneath the lid. Mortise-and-tenon joins
were used in precisely the same manner to attach
Height 17.5 (67s), diam. at mouth 24.8 (97s)
Middle Warring States Period, c. second half of the metal fittings to wooden boxes. strongly
The bronze's
decorative
motifs as well
fourth century BCE (before 316)
resemble the painted decoration of contemporane-
From Baoshan, Jingmen, Hubei Province
ous lacquerware. Color contrasts are rendered by
Jingzhou Prefecture Museum, Hubei Province gold and silver inlaid in the recesses of the bronze
surface, and the fluid and curvilinear ornaments
1
This lidded vessel, one of a pair, was found in the are imitative of brushwork. The imitation of lac-
eastern chamber of Tomb 2, along with most of the querware, in fact, approaches the literal: the inner
ritual bronzes and a group of lacquered containers walls of the bronze are coated with red lacquer. This
for eating and drinking. Chicken bones, presumably luxury vessel clearly illustrates the artistic domi-
offerings for the deceased, were found in one of nance of lacquerware over bronzework, a phenome-
the two vessels. non that first appeared at the turn of the fourth
The vessel's shape is unusual for pre-imperial century BCE and developed progressively through
bronzes. With slightly flared circular walls, and a the Han dynasty. The phenomenon reflects less the
lid topped by a flat circle, the container is modeled influence of one form of production on the other
on lacquerware, and like its lacquer counterparts, than the progressive decline in the importance of
has three small feet (here ornamented with eyes) ritual bronze decoration.
and two movable rings attached to animal masks Along with another vessel discovered in Tomb i
(pushou). Reversed, the lid rests on its four bird- at Jiangling (Hubei province), this vessel and its
shaped rings to serve as a food receptacle. The complement from Tomb 2 at Baoshan were manu-
vessel's ornaments and fittings were cast on; traces factured by workshops specializing in luxury bronze
left by mortise-and-tenon joinery to attach them to items inlaid with precious metals and, in some
the interior of the mold are still visible inside the cases, accented with lacquer, turquoise, or other

336 I CHU AND O T H E R C U L T U R E S