SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC

The unusual flower-like motifs in the band at the base of the neck are also seen at the base of the neck of a bronze zun, dated 12th-11th century BC, illustrated by Robert W. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Washington DC, 1987, pp. 284-5, no. 47. The author notes, p. 286, that this motif is found as early as the Erligang phase stamped on white pottery vessels, a shard of which is illustrated with other shards, p. 131, fig. 199.