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Square Wine Container (Fangyou)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
From the finely proportioned body to the elaborate decoration cast with great precision, this ritual wine vessel displays the artistic refinement and technical virtuosity that marked the full blossoming of late Shang bronze art. The dramatic contrast of the crested birds ( kuifeng ) against the dense background of spiral patterns ( leiwen ) gives the vessel a new force, clarity, and intense vitality. The distinctive square body also places it as a rare and important type among the more usual round or ovoid types.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSquare Wine Container (Fangyou), c. 1250–1046 BCE. China, Henan province, probably Anyang, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE), Anyang phase (c. 1250–1046 BCE). Bronze; overall: 26.7 x 13.4 cm (10 1/2 x 5 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1963.103
