CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

53
Ivory goblet inlaid with turquoise
Height 30.3 (11 7 /s) diam. at rim 11.3 (4 Vz)
Late Shang Yinxu Period II (c. 1200 BCE)
From Xiaotun Locus North, at Yinxu, Anyang,
Henan Province
The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Beijing
much affected by the achievements of the bronze
foundries, but surely the reverse is equally plausible:
the consistency of Shang style suggests that the
artisans responsible were not limited to any single
medium. RT
i Excavated in 1976 (M 5:100); reported: Zhongguo 1980, 217.
The durability of hardstones and bronzes has given
them an unwarranted prominence in our understanding
of Shang material culture. Few items of
wood are known, but evidence for carved wooden
chambers, sometimes featuring inlay and painted
surfaces, was identified in the royal tombs at
Xibeigang. Wooden and lacquered objects have also
been detected from impressions in undisturbed
areas of these tombs, such as a drum and chime
stand in Tomb 1217. Many lacquered objects, as well
as textiles and basketry, probably accompanied the
bronze vessels that composed an altar set; they
probably played a significant role as serving vessels
for a ritual feast. Carved bone and ivory were also a
part of these arrays, but rarely have intact vessels
such as this ivory goblet 1 been recovered.
Drinking goblets (gu) are among the most common
Shang bronze vessel types, paired as a rule
with small pouring vessels (jue). Fu Hao's tomb
contained fifty-three bronze gu, but her three ivory
goblets represent a more exhalted level of craft
enjoyed by some of the elite. The form of this
goblet's body resembles that of biconical bronze
examples; here, however, the waist is larger in
diameter relative to the base and mouth; the rim
as well does not flare so dramatically as it normally
does in bronze goblets. A large handle is mounted
at one side, with a prominent beak at top and a
grip in the middle, and the surface is carved with
fine lines tracing motifs and ground patterns that
conform with elements of bronze decoration. The
motifs are inlaid with small pieces of turquoise,
creating a color and image-to-ground contrast
more pronounced than is found in bronze vessels;
inlay is attested in lacquered objects and wooden
surfaces as well. The stylistic choices available to
artisans working ivory, lacquer, and wood were
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