Page 66 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

Lei 罍

The term lei 罍 is used to refer to a group of vessels that can be either
round or square and supported either by a ring foot or a flat base, and
which all share similar characteristics including a constricted, short
neck, an ovoid-shaped body, a shoulder wider in diameter than the rest
of the body and, sometimes, a dome-like cover.

According to classical texts, the lei 罍 was used to hold either fermented
beverages or water. Some experts believe that the lei 罍 first appeared
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in bronze during the Erligang 二里崗 period (17 /16 – 14 centuries
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B.C.) of the Shang 商 dynasty, but they seem to be confusing the vessel
with the earliest form of the similar-looking zun 尊, which is also
shaped like a large vase with a ring foot and has a concave shoulder as
well as a constricted, short neck.

This early, vase-shaped vessel, if we consider it to be a lei 罍, undergoes
important changes in its form during the Yinxu 殷墟 period: its
shoulders become convex, two small handles appear at the level of the
vessel’s shoulders and a third handle appears at the base of the body
just above the foot. It is also during this period that large square lei 罍
or fanglei 方罍, begin to appear.

Very popular at the end of the Shang 商 dynasty and the beginning of
the Western Zhou 西周, this shape disappears from the Chinese bronze
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repertoire towards the end of the 3 century B.C..

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Lei, Shang dynasty, Yinxu period (circa 14 – 12 /11 centuries B.C.)
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Height: 34.3 cm – Meiyintang Collection.
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