English: Ritual wine container (fangyi) with masks (taotie), serpents, and birds. White bronze patinated with azurite (chiefly inside), malachite and cuprite. Two inscriptions in ancient seal script. 35.3 x 24.8 x 23.3 cm

This vessel is most famous for its lengthy cast inscription of 187 characters made by Zuoce Ling 作冊令 (“Recorder Ling”). The text, one of the longest from the early Zhou period, is repeated inside the vessel and the lid. The vessel commemorates three days of administrative meetings and ritual ceremonies held in Chengzhou during the reign of Zhao, the fourth Zhou monarch. Mingbao, the son of the Duke of Zhou and a nephew of the Taibao, led the events, which began with a massive gathering of court and regional officials and concluded with offerings of animal sacrifices. Afterwards, in appreciation of their efforts, Mingbao awarded ritual wine, “metal” (probably bronze), and oxen to Ling and his colleague Captain Kang, with the order that the gifts be used for ritual purposes (from the Smithsonian site)

Western Zhou, c. 1050-975 BCE. Probably Henan, Luoyang. Freer Gallery of Art F1930.54a-b