1-233-713 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Bronze ding with taotie pattern, early Western Zhou dynasty, c1050 BC. A ritual bronze cauldron (ding) with upright loop handles supported on three plain cylindrical legs. The three lobes are each cast with a large and elaborate taotie mask, whose two large hooked horns flank a crest rising from its ridged nose, the jaws have tight hooks, the eyebrows are hatched and the eyes are in higher relief. A ding is a ritual vessel for cooked food with a round body and three legs. The shape was made and used throughout Shang-Han dynasties. Ritual vessls were used to offer food to ancestors.