Chinese Bronzes - Ritual Bronze Vessels

He 盉 - three legged wine pot from early Shang. This simple piece with the three teat-like feet is based upon Neolithic shapes. With the long beak, some Chinese authors compare this vessel type with an animal, but one could think of more cultic parts of the body.


He - especially this piece with the extreme long beak whose end is thickened and with the swollen upper part of the legs could symbolize a phallus. There are also taller pieces which look more like modern coffee pots. On the right side, a similar vessel type called ying 鎣.