CHINE, FIN DE LA DYNASTIE SHANG (1660-1027 AV. JC)

These zhi vases were used as beakers to drink although the cover suggests that it was dedicated to preserve the offerings between two ceremonies. Liquids warmed up could be transfered into the zhi to cool down or placed on the altar. A similar piece is illustrated in Hemut Brinker, Bronzen aus dem alten China, Zürich, 1975, p. 89 and a comparable zhi, although more decorated, is kept at the Shanghai Museum and illustrated in the catalogue of Cernuschi Museum exhibition, Rites et Festins de la Chine Antique; Bronzes du Musée de Shanghai, Paris 1998, p. 70 et 71.