Evelopment of Bronze Ware Shapes and Ornaments
Styling and Development
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty was the period when bronze art matured to its peak.
Device type and decoration features:
The representative work of the early period is the square tripod with gluttonous milk and nail pattern, which is regular and dignified in shape. The wall of the device is thin, and the decoration is simple and sparse.
In the later period, the casting process of bronze wares was more exquisite, and the types of bronze wares were more exquisite. Taotie pattern (or animal face pattern), cloud and thunder pattern, Kui pattern, dragon pattern, tiger pattern, elephant pattern, deer pattern, bull head pattern, phoenix pattern, cicada pattern, Decoration such as human face pattern. Usually embossed thematic patterns are added to the cloud and thunder pattern, and the inscription is short and mostly a family emblem image with a few characters. It is characterized by dignified and solid shape and magnificent decoration.
Simuwufang Ding: Bronze ware in the late Shang and Zhou dynasties, with a mature and stable shape, a wide rim, a square belly, thick column feet and tripod ears, which aggravate the sense of volume and majestic momentum of the whole vessel, and the decorative effect is simple and strong. The center of the four sides of the tripod are all smooth and plain to set off the gluttonous pattern composed of Kuilong patterns around it. A symbol of majesty.
Siyang square statue: square body, square mouth, large edge, long neck, high ring feet, high neck, and banana leaf patterns, triangular Kui patterns and animal face patterns on the four sides. Each of the four corners of the statue is molded with a sheep, and the four corners of the shoulders are four curly-horned sheep heads, and the sheep heads and necks protrude from the outside of the vessel. The body and legs of the sheep are attached to the abdomen and the ring feet of the statue. The abdomen of the statue is the chest of the sheep, and the legs of the lamb are attached to the feet of the ring to bear the weight of the body. The chest and back of the sheep are decorated with scale patterns, the sides are decorated with beautiful long crown phoenix patterns, and the ring feet are decorated with Kui patterns. The shoulders of Fang Zun are decorated with high-relief snake body and dragon patterns with claws. A pair of horned dragon heads protrude from the center of the Zun's four sides and the two sheep next to each other. From the right shoulders on each side of Fang Zun to the middle of the former residence, the whole body is decorated with fine thunder patterns. The whole utensil is cast with the block model method, and it is completed in one go and superbly crafted, showing a superb level of casting.
Siyang Square Zun integrates line carving, relief carving and round carving in one vessel, integrates plane decoration and three-dimensional sculpture, and combines vessel and animal shape, which is just right. This statue is simple in shape, beautiful and majestic, combining movement with stillness, and is known as "the ultimate bronze model".
Western Zhou Dynasty
Vessel type and decoration features: The Western Zhou Dynasty was the heyday of the slave society. The bronze craftsmanship followed the dignified and elegant style of the late Shang Dynasty, with slightly fewer wine vessels, more food vessels, and longer inscriptions. In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, new varieties of bronze wares appeared, such as 簠 (fǔ), 盨 (xǔ), 匜 (yí), bell, and 镈. Forms and decorations are becoming more and more simple, Taotie pattern is rare, and Kui pattern, bird pattern, stealing pattern, double ring pattern, wave pattern and tile pattern are popular.
spring and autumn
Vessel shape and decoration features: In the middle period, new techniques such as die-printing and lost-wax casting appeared, and complicated patterns of panchi and pan (huī) were popular; Yan, Zhao, Cai and other countries rose to inlaid red copper and staggered patterns on bronze ware. Gold new craft. Bird seal inscriptions appeared in Wu, Yue, Chu and other countries. The representative artifact is the lotus crane square pot unearthed in Xinzheng, Henan.
Lotus Crane Square Pot: Spring and Autumn Bronze Ware, the whole vessel is full of smart business from shape to decoration. The whole body is covered with tangled patterns of dragons and chinchillas, and the air ears, air feet, and door ribs are all designed as vivid and magical monsters. The top of the pot is surrounded by hollowed out lotus petals, and a neutral crane with its head raised and wings ready to fly symbolizes the freedom of the new era. Spirit. The lotus crane square pot breaks through the tradition since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, transforming the mysterious majesty of the bronzes of the Shang Dynasty and the rational and elegant style of the Western Zhou Dynasty into a new style of free stretching, liveliness and agility.
warring states
Vessel type and decoration features: The focus is on the manufacture of exquisite and dexterous daily-use utensils, and the extensive use of decorative techniques such as gilding, inlays, engraving, gold and silver interlacing, etc., makes bronzes have a magnificent and dazzling style. The widespread popularity of hunting, archery, mulberry picking, banquets, battles, terraces and other patterns and decorations with a strong sense of life is a reflection of the policy of rewarding farming and warfare implemented by emerging feudal rulers in various countries in bronze art. Representative utensils include a bronze mirror with a water and land attack pattern, and a copper pot with a pattern of attacking a battle with mulberry feasts.
Kui is a legendary one-horned small dragon, similar to the dragon pattern, which is often seen in the bronze decorations of the Shang Dynasty, or two Kui facing each other to form a gluttonous pattern, or just as an appendage to the gluttonous pattern, usually in the form of a profile.
Taotie pattern, also known as animal face pattern, is a commonly used decoration on Shang and Zhou bronze wares. It adopts abstract and exaggerated techniques to form a hideous and terrifying visual effect. The Taotie patterns are all displayed in the front form, the eye sockets are molded with convex lines, and the concave lines are carved on them. Taotie is formed by the ancients by combining the characteristics of various beasts in nature and adding their own imagination, and it is often used as the main decoration of utensils. It generally appears in the face of animals, with the characteristics of insects, fish, birds, beasts and other animals. It consists of eye lines, nose lines, eyebrow lines, ear lines, mouth lines, and horn lines. The Taotie pattern is ferocious and solemn, with rigorous structure, exquisite production, and mysterious realm. It is one of the best works in bronze decorative patterns and represents the highest level of bronze decorative patterns.
Dragon pattern is also one of the traditional Chinese patterns, also known as Kui pattern or Kui dragon pattern, which was first seen on bronze wares. It is a giant head with two horns, scales on its body, and a coiled shape. It is a decorative pattern created comprehensively.
The phoenix pattern is the most beautiful pattern among bronze wares. It is a pattern composed of the characteristics of various birds and birds, and it is widely used.
The fret pattern is a pattern called "the head of wealth and honor" by the folks. It is a geometric pattern derived from the thunder pattern on ancient pottery and bronze ware. Because it is a square or circular loop-shaped pattern formed by folding horizontal and vertical short lines, which is shaped like the word "Hui", so it is called a back pattern, and its decorative lines are mostly square-shaped and curled. The fret pattern and the thunder pattern have the same origin and synonym, and it is also a kind of image of the thunder pattern. There are single pieces arranged intermittently, and some are connected in pairs with one front and one reverse, commonly known as "pair-to-pair fretwork", and there are also continuous bands. Type, mostly used to decorate the mouth or neck of utensils. Ancient scholars called the round frets cloud patterns and the square fret patterns thunder patterns, collectively called cloud and thunder patterns.
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