SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD (770-476 BC)

Compare the massive ding dated to the Spring and Autumn period excavated in 1988 from Jinsheng Village, Taiyuan, Shaanxi province, and now in the Shaanxi Province Research Institute of Archaeology, illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 8 - Dong Zhou (2), Beijing, 1995, pp. 15-6, nos. 16-18. Although of even larger size (104 cm. high) than the present example, the Jinsheng ding shares similar proportions and cast decoration to the present vessel, as well as very similar robust taotie masks set atop each tall waisted leg.