Gold Jue cup

Jue (wine vessel), light and round bodyshape, drum shaped belly,round bottom with wide spouts, which comes together with a gold ingot shape. The mouth is in an oval shape, with two pillars. (Most Jue have two small pillars, a few have one or none.) with a single animal headed ear decorated on one side and it has three legs. One line of fret patterns are carved around the rim area. There are also two lines of bow string pattern decorated on the junction between the mouth and belly.This Jue is an artwork and imitation of the bronzeware Jue in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, however, it varies a bit. As an ancient wine vessel, the Jue is often combined with the spout and tail, single ear and three legs. The Jue vessels are normally larger in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, with long and fluted slanting spout, a tail and a single ear which is easy for people to lift the vessel. The bronze Jue vessel initially was found in Erlitou culture ( 21 century - 16 century BC) , and gradually it disappeared in the Middle Zhou Dynasty. In Ming and Qing Dynasties the Jue vessel is often used as a ritual object for sacrifice occassions, so it has a certain hierarchy. When the Ming Dynasty general Lan Yu accused by Zhu Yuan Zhang, one of his charges was arrogation: “and produced Gold Jue as wine vessels...", apparently, it reflects a political meaning behind.