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Bronze hu vase

Bronze hu vase
(銅壺)
 Ming dynasty 1368-1644

Medium
bronze
Measurements
49.3 × 30.0 × 21.5 cm
Place/s of Execution
China
Inscription
punched in inside rim (in Chinese characters) u.c.:
Accession Number
2388-D3
Department
Asian Art
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1922
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation
Gallery location
Not on display
Physical description
This bronze vase is in the style of the archaic bronze vessel of hu 壺, wine container of the Warring States (475 – 221B.C.) and Western Han (206-24 B.C.) periods in shape and decoration. The body is casted in relief the so-called taotie饕餮 mask, a motif commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels from the Shang (16th-11th century B.C.) and Zhou dynasty (11th-221B.C). The design typically consists of a zoomorphic mask. The design is not clear, as if copied from a wood-block printed catalogue of the taotie mask. It has two handles with the head of dragons.