A massive archaic bronze ritual food vessel and cover (Ding), Early Warring States period | 戰國初 青銅龍紋大鼎

This magnificent vessel is a particularly rare example of bronze ding from the early Warring States period (475-221 BC) for its impressive size. Vessels of this type were used during ritual ceremonies as food or cooking utensils. A closely related ding attributed to the same period, with the cover similarly decorated with three reclining water buffaloes, but of smaller size, measuring 38.8cm in width, was excavated in 1978 from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (c. 433 BC), Leigudun, Hubei province, now preserved in the Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan, illustrated in Ma Chengyuan ed., Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: qingtong juan / The Quintessence of Chinese Cultural Relics: Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 229, no. 820, where the ding is described to be unearthed with pig bones inside the vessel and traces of smoke and fire on its base. Compare also a vessel adorned with three recumbent animals on the cover, excavated in 1981 in Zhongzhaofu, Beijing, now preserved in the Beijing Antique Institute, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji / Complete Series on Chinese Bronzes, vol. 9: Eastern Zhou (III), Beijing, 1997, pl. 99.