This basin, though slightly earlier in date, appears to relate well with two well-known jian, one in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., the other in the Pillsbury Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Art illustrated and discussed at length by George W. Weber, The Ornaments of Late Chou Bronzes, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1973, pp. 82-91, pl. 8 and 9. These bronze basins, datable to the first half of the fifth century B.C., were apparently found together at Hui Xian in Henan province. In decoration they display an advanced stage in the Liyu style, now known to be associated with the Houma family, in which engaging taotie faces composed of snakes were added to layered interlace

The present example appears to be an earlier stage in this development. The interlace is in very low relief lying almost flat with the surface of the bronze. According to Jessica Rawson, Chinese Bronzes, Art and Ritual, London, 1987, p. 49, proto-Liyu designs date from the mid-sixth century or slightly later

For a bronze dou with bands of similar low-relief interlace from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, dated to the late 6th century B.C. (Spring and Autumn period) see, W. Thomas Chase, Ancient Chinese Bronze Art, China House Gallery, New York, 1991, Catalogue, no. 22