Ritual Food Vessel

Beneath a broad, shallow bowl is a rounded compartment, possibly for charcoal. The decor in the neck belt is the usual animal triple band violently dissolved antithetical dragons combining to make a t'ao-t'ieh. The bowl is supported by three figures, (demons?) functioning as legs. The heads, much elongated, are human but horned. The bodies display a subtle flow of S-curves from neck to curled-back legs. Three openings in the heating (?) compartment display t'ao-t'ieh figures in incised lines, one of them giving the impression of being detached from the bowl. The upright handles are topped by two confronted birds in the round, their curved beaks raised high. Patina blue-green.