Page 85 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

You 卣

The you 卣, a bronze jar-shaped vessel used to store and transport
fermented beverages, consists of a bulging pot-like body, either ovoid
or pear-shaped, supported by a ring foot and topped by a cover and an
arch-shaped moveable handle which is usually attached to two small
ring handles, one on each side of its body, and these in turn are often
decorated with animal heads.

The you 卣 first appears near the end of the Erligang 二里崗 period
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(circa 17 /16 – 14 centuries B.C.) of the Shang 商 dynasty, when it is
sometimes mistakenly called a hu 壺 in inscriptions.
Quite popular and commonly used from the middle of the Shang
商 dynasty and throughout the early part of the Western Zhou 西周
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dynasty (circa 17 /16 – 12 /11 centuries B.C.), the you 卣 disappears
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towards the 9 century B.C..
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An extremely rare variant of the pot-shaped you 卣, is the cylindrical
you 卣, of which only eight examples have been so far recorded (See
photo on page 84).

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You, Shang dynasty, Yinxu period (circa 14 – 12 /11 centuries B.C.)
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Height: 29.5 cm – Private Collection.
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