Ritual wine vessel (hu)

These four vessels [B60 B1080, B60 B30+, B60 B1079 and B60 B720] and those of the following two plates illustrate a new pictorial and, at times, almost anecdotal trend which originated in northwestern China towards the last decades of the 6th century BCE and lasted well into the Han dynasty. Imaginative, refreshing and technically daring as it is, this trend is the swan song of an art that had been self-sufficient for a thousand years. With few exceptions, shapes are plain, if not pedestrian. The now completely secularized metal is used as a mere background for designs that are for the most part borrowed from other media, such as painting, and are no longer adapted to the anatomy of the containers.
Three or these vessels, the dui (B60B1080) and the two hu (B60B30+, B60B1079) bear designs of copper inlay. At first, as in the dui, the decor was done in incised lines filled with copper thread. Later on, as in the case of the two hu, decorative motifs were carved and then filled with copper foil cut-outs in a manner resembling niello work.
The asymmetric hu (back left, B60B30+) is another of the few new shapes that saw the light during the late 6th century BCE Its decor is so close in its execution to that of the tall standard hu (B60B1079,which happens to be the biggest vessel of its kind in existence) next to it that it is not unreasonable to assume that both vessels were produced by the same workshop. From top to foot these vessels are covered with narrow circular belts containing a variety of curvilinear, almost calligraphic zoomorphic and geometric motifs. This dense population is shown in profile and according to the most demanding laws or symmetry at least where the tall hu is concerned. In addition vertical and horizontal axes are marked by geometric figures, mainly H-shaped. Some of the motifs such as the regardant dragons can be traced back to the main stream of ancestral bronze decor. Others are revolutionary. For instance, arched felines, which do not antedate the second hair of the 6th century BCE. The handles of both vessels and the spurred rings on top or the lid of the tall Hu with their full round animal masks or their incised details are concessions made to the prevalent taste of the day.