Toilet box (lian)

This covered cylindrical toilet box, supported by three small feet in the form of bears, is gilt with decor patterns executed in incised lines. there are two ring handles suspended from t'ao-t'ieh masks on the vessel and a third ring handle on the lid, which is further adorned by three birds, reduced and highly stylized, in the round. The neck and foot belts bordering the main decor band display the 'triple lozenge' figure common on the Huai style mirrors and immensely popular throughout the Han era. The scene portrayed on the body presents various animals- birds, deer, bears- moving through a field of hills and drifting clouds. the treatment is spirited and free, with nothing in it of the symmetry one de rigeur in the bronze decor. The long, fluid lines are adorned with the 'han curl border' (for comment see BMFEA, Volume 13, pages 97,98). Patina light green at feet and on the lid animals.