Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The Barlow Collection

A select catalogue of the Barlow collection of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades by the University of Sussex (published Sussex, 2006).

The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

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Ritual food vessel, or ding, with taotie mask pattern

  • loan
  • Literature notes

    The wide rounded bowl is slightly lobed and pointed towards three tall columnar legs. The rim has an everted angular flange and two high arched handles. The bowl is decorated with an impressive relief design of three formal animal masks (taotie), each centred on one leg, with a diamond-shaped boss on the forehead and eyes in high relief, and eyebrows, curved horns, muzzle and further curled features symmetrically arranged, all in low relief on a dense leiwen (‘thunder pattern’) ground of scrollwork. The patina is of greenish tone, with the recesses of the design probably deliberately filled in in black, to make the design stand out more clearly. An eight-character inscription is cast inside the vessel, beginning with a clan sign in form of a man in side view, followed by the characters zuo fu gui bao zun yi [made father gui’s precious sacrificial vessel], and followed by another clan sign in form of a man holding up a child.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia China (north) (place of creation)
    Date
    12th - 11th century BC (1200 - 1001 BC)
    Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 - c. 1050 BC)
    Material and technique
    bronze
    Dimensions
    23.3 x 18.2 x 18 cm (height x width x depth)
    Material index
    Technique index
    formed cast
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
    Accession no.
    LI1301.2
  • Further reading

    University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. B2

Glossary (2)

ding, taotie

  • ding

    A Chinese bronze tripod ritual cooking vessel. Also a type of white porcelain from Northern China.

  • taotie

    Stylized monster mask decoration with prominent eyes and scrolling horns. The motif has been known since the 1100s. Its significance remains mysterious.

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

    The Barlow Collection

    The wide rounded bowl is slightly lobed and pointed towards three tall columnar legs. The rim has an everted angular flange and two high arched handles. The bowl is decorated with an impressive relief design of three formal animal masks (taotie), each centred on one leg, with a diamond-shaped boss on the forehead and eyes in high relief, and eyebrows, curved horns, muzzle and further curled features symmetrically arranged, all in low relief on a dense leiwen (‘thunder pattern’) ground of scrollwork. The patina is of greenish tone, with the recesses of the design probably deliberately filled in in black, to make the design stand out more clearly. An eight-character inscription is cast inside the vessel, beginning with a clan sign in form of a man in side view, followed by the characters zuo fu gui bao zun yi [made father gui’s precious sacrificial vessel], and followed by another clan sign in form of a man holding up a child.
Notice

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