Ritual Tripod Vessel (Ding)

Bronze ding vessels were cooking pots reserved for offerings of food to ancestors during the Shang through the Han (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) dynasties. Using bronze signified that a vessel was a ritual object of great importance, as the ruler controlled access to both the copper and tin that were mined to make the bronze alloy, as well as the workshops that cast the vessels. On this vessel, black inlay is used to highlight the animal mask (taotie) on the sides, particularly the deep pupils of the eyes, against a dense ground of tight spirals known as leiwen (“thunder”). The clan sign of the family authorized by the ruler to cast the vessel is found on the vessel’s interior wall.