Square-Sectioned Bronze Zun Vessel of the Yaxu Clan - View 1

This zun vessel has a flaring square mouth and an elephant’s head on each of the four corners of the shoulder. Animal heads are set between the elephant-head embellishments. The neck, body, and foot are designed with eight ridge ornamentations. Animal-mask designs (shoumian wen) and kui-dragon patterns are dominant, while thunder-patterns are used as a background. An inscription of nine characters is carved in two lines inside the mouth and is roughly translated as "precious vessel [for] ritual veneration [of the] queens [and the] heir apparent [of the] Yaxu Clan". A zun is a type of wine vessel that is classified into various designs, and this kind of square-sectioned zun vessel is relatively rare. The number of extant zun of this type is about fifty. The Taipei Palace Museum currently has fifteen square-sectioned zun vessels in its permanent collection.

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