Ewer on four legs

By the late sixteenth century, scholar-officials had become China's leaders in aesthetics, not the imperial court. Strongly influenced by the taste established by Neo-Confucian doctrine, the scholar-officials tended to be fascinated with the past. They were avid collectors of archaic bronzes and objects in archaic styles in a number of materials. This gray jade vessel is a fine example. While it appears to combine two Bronze Age forms, the jue and the gong, both its shape and its decoration reflect late Ming understanding of these early prototypes. Typical of Ming styles, the decor is loosely based on late Shang dynasty models and is rather roughly cut. The upper band, which continues over the spout, consists of dragons and abstracted animal patterns, while the middle band is the classic taotie mask. The legs have blade-shaped devices with heavy flanges. The top of the handle is bitten by a snarling mask, and the linked spirals that decorate the handle are more reminiscent of late Zhou than of Shang decor.