Cover of Gong Bronze Vessel

Western Zhou Dynasty
Henan Provincial Museum, Zhengzhou

This Western Zhou gong cover was also excavated from Shihegang, like the jia seen on the previous page. It is a striking example of casting ritual vessels into baroque and fanciful animal shapes, a development that began in late Shang but was greatly elaborated during the Zhou. Here a bat-like head perches on top of the head of a goggle-eyed, horned dragon. The triangular motifs on the horns of the dragon can also be seen on the body of the jia on the previous page.