Xu food vessel

The name Su for this type of vessel is confirmed by inscriptions, the difference between a Su and a Kuei being that the former is oblong, the latter round. The lid of this Su, if inverted, will be a vessel in itself. The workmanship, unusually fine for the period, exhibits some of the most typical features of the Middle Chou Style. The foot belt presents the so-called 'wavy line,' here executed in open work; the belly has the 'grooves' (gadrooned bands); and the neck and lid belts display the 'scale band' in flat relief. In the last two areas a small flange appears in the center of the long side, thus following the Yin tradition of dividing a cessel into four panels by handles and flanges - or free animals' heads. the Yin time but ubiquitous in Chou. Inside the ring on the lid is a bottom decor in flat, double-banded relief a beg S-shaped dragon's body ending in a dragon's head at each end. To be noted, in addition to the long tongue, the ear, and the crooked horn, are the eyes in high relief just below the tufts midway on the body. Patina green with patches of blue.