CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

series utilizing a common design. (The third largest
of the Dayangzhou flat-legged ding features a different
decoration and to that degree does not fit
the set.)
This ding is impressive both for its design and
for the quality of its execution. The three legs are
slightly modeled in cross section, and their dramatic
silhouettes (plausibly representing dragons)
are enlivened by many hooks and curls. The animal's
mouth is spread open at the point where the
foot meets the shallow bowl; a row of sharp teeth is
clearly seen on the lower jaw; the upper jaw seems
to be elaborated as a trunk. The register on the
bowl is given over to more conventional mask motifs
within a circle band; hooked flanges are aligned
with the legs and at each midpoint. The swallowtail
motif seen on theyan steamer (cat. 61) encircles
the rim of this ding.
Two ding with animal-shaped legs and handles
that incorporate animal forms were among the
first bronze vessels associated with the Wucheng
culture. 2 Like the Dayangzhou vessels, their legs,
flanges, and standing ornaments were separately
cast and then mounted in the ceramic mold assembly
used to cast the bowl; casting locked these
elements in place. The Dayangzhou tomb also
contained three stone legs of similar shape; it has
been suggested that they were used for a ding made
from some perishable material such as lacquer. 3 RT
1 Excavated in 1989 (XDM:i4); reported: Jiangxi 1997,18.
2 Fong 1980, no. 17.
3 Jiangxi 1997,153.
197 | TOMB AT DAYANCZHOU, XIN CAN