Ding (T'ing) (Ritual Cooking Vessel)

A large corpus of strange animal-like designs decorates ritual bronze vessels from the Shang dynasty. Among them is the so-called taotie, a mask-like motif named for a mythical beast said to have an insatiable appetite. The taotie is composed of two dragons in profile, colliding along the central flange. Stretched out in a stylized frieze across the width of this vessel, the scrolling background frames this ominous composition, which includes two prominent eyes and elaborate examples horns. While the precise meaning and function of this design are difficult to ascertain, as both form and significance changed over time, the taotie remained a predominant motif throughout the Shang dynasty.