CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

44
against a red ground. The decoration on the body
is arranged in two horizontal registers, bordered
by narrow bands edged in rounded relief. Diagonal
strips within the bands encircle the vessel in alternating
colors. Executed with utmost discipline, the
principal configurations in white, ending in paired
curls, are organized in parallel rows with the larger
units occupying the zone of the vessel's widest
circumference. The units in each row are the mirror-reverse
of those above and below. Horizontal
strips marked by pairs of small black squares link
the rows of smaller and larger units within each
register, while others lead to the curls on the right
of each unit. Similar units in single file circumscribe
the neck.
The patterns on the lid, organized in a somewhat
looser, but no less rigorous manner, are oriented
along horizontal lines, and, vertically, by lines
of fluctuating width reaching to the upper and
lower borders. The finial above appears to represent
a snake's head, with its mouth modeled in relief.
The narrow band of white lozenges around
the foot, different in character from the rest of the
decor, is shown in fine lines of red reserve against a
black ground. At the center each lozenge is studded
with a black dot.
LF-H
i Excavated in 1977 (M 612:22); published: Zhongguo 1993,
130, fig. 102, center; Zhongguo 1996,117, fig. 61:5; 204, fig.
94:7. The excavation report identifies the vessel as a guan.
Pottery gui vessel
Height 27.2 (10 Ys)
Early Bronze Age, Lower Xiajiadian Culture
(c. 2000-1500 BCE)
From Dadianzi, Aohanqi, Inner Mongolia
The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Beijing
This vessel 1 and its smaller counterpart the/i'ao
(cat. 45) were found in the niche of M 612, lying
side-by-side. These two vessel types, intended for
the pouring of libations, have been recovered only
from the larger high-status burials at Dadianzi, and
they invariably form a pair. Evidence indicates that
in most, if not all cases, they were accompanied
by a lacquered wooden goblet shaped as a flaring
cylinder, which lay nearby. Together the three vessels
evidently formed a specific ritual set. Only one
complete example of the gu has survived (M 726:7),
but we know of their presence in other tombs like
M 612 by the remaining traces of their lacquer
shell. 2 Apparently the three vessels were deposited
in the niche at the conclusion of the libation rite,
after their contents had been emptied.
The gui from M 612 is fashioned of a buffcolored
ware, largely obscured by the black paint
that covers its surfaces. Its three hollow, tapering
legs support a cylindrical body that widens toward
the rim. The radius of the rim is approximately
equal to that of the splayed legs at their tips, which
accounts for the vessel's well-balanced appearance.
The rim rises at the front to form a short, upright
pouring channel. A small knob at the opposite side
of the rim may originally have served to secure a
cover in place. At the back of the vessel, a broad
strap handle reaches from the midsection to the
upper part of one leg.
Gui vessels of this type recovered from Dadianzi
are closely analogous to examples from the Erlitou
Period II, and along with the;/flo, establish the
existence of long-distance cultural transmissions
from the Central Plains region to the far northeast
at the beginning of the Bronze Age. 3 Despite the
clear dependence of the Dadianzi gui on a Henan
prototype, its surface decoration indicates that
158BRONZE ACE CHINA