LATE SHANG-EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC

The yan is a type of steamer used chiefly for grain. The form consists of a zeng, the deep upper bowl with a pierced bottom, which was either placed upon or cast integrally to a li, the lower, legged vessel, in which water would be steamed to cook the food in the upper bowl.

A similar yan dated to the late Shang-early Western Zhou period, but of smaller size (36.7 cm.) and with more simply rendered taotie masks on the lower section, is illustrated by J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1990, pp. 334-5, no. 31, where two other comparable yan are illustrated, p. 337, figs. 31.2 and 31.3.