The Formative Age 5
daggers and spears, and horse harness fi ttings, but the most common
early bronze objects were sacrifi cial vessels (for wine and food) used to
pay one’s respects to the noble deceased ancestors of the Shang (and
Zhou) kings, or to commemorate military victories or the appointment
and installation of vassals and offi cials of the royal family.
The most lavish tomb fi ndings from Anyang to date are from the
tomb of Lady Hao (Fu Hao), one of sixty-four consorts (or wives)
of the Shang king Wu Ding (reign ca. 1215–1190 bce).^1 Whereas
most other Shang tombs were at least partially looted long before
This bronze zun, or ritual wine vessel, in the shape of two rams is from the
thirteenth or twelfth century BCE. Such cast bronze vessels, used by royal families
primarily in sacrifi ces to ancestral spirits, required the large-scale mining of
copper, tin, and lead, smelting the ores at 1000 degrees centigrade, and the design
of complex negative molds in clay. The Trustees of The British Museum, British
Museum, London, Great Britain / Art Resource, NY