pan BM-1983-0729.1

Period:Western Zhou dynasty Production date:1100BC-900BC (circa)
Materials:bronze
Technique:

Dimensions:Diameter: 38.60 centimetres Height: 14.80 centimetres

Description:
Bronze vessel of the type called pan. This basin carries elegant scrolls around the outside. It has three blade-like legs, which support a steeply slopping bowl, flattened at the centre and filled with a deeply sunken roundel.
IMG


Comments:Rawson 1987:Extremely unusual and beautifully cast, this pan carries elegant scrolls around the outside. It has the rare feature of three blade-like legs, which support a steeply sloping bowl, flattened at the centre and filled with a deeply sunken roundel. Relief roundels stand in a few early vessels, including a yu from a deposit in Zhengzhou illustrated in Figure 5. This sunken version is probably a later descendant. A distinctive ledge on the broad lip also has early antecedents, appearing on a pan from the Erligang-period site at Hubei Huangpi Panlongcheng. Later pan from Qingjian Xian in northern Shaanxi retained this ledge. Like some other northern vessels the Qingjian pan are embellished with fish and a turtle in intaglio lines. Qingjian lies in northern Shaanxi to the west of the Yellow River (where it runs north-south). Other very unusual bronzes have come to light at Suide in the same part of Shaanxi and at Shilou in Shanxi. It seems possible that the British Museum’s pan was a product of this small enclave north of the main Shang area, which assimilated Erligang-period ceramic and bronze traditions but thereafter deviated from many Anyang practices.The inscription on the pan, typical of the early Western Zhou, seems too late to be contemporary with the pan. However, the characters do not give the impression of being incised.