[GONGS PLAYING]

The two vessels at the rear of this case illustrate the aesthetic changes that accompanied the transition from ceramics to bronze during China’s early Bronze Age, from about 1600 to 1100 BC. During that period, the forms of ceramics were adapted, reinterpreted, and cast into metal.

The earthenware tripod on the right is organic in shape; sprouting directly from its round top are bulbous legs that taper radically to narrow endings. The three-legged, bronze ritual vessel on the left is more structured and architectural, with a geometrical body and columnar legs. This piece, known as a li, contained food offerings for use in rituals connected with ancestor worship.

Because early Chinese bronze vessels were cast from pottery molds, their manufacture drew upon many of the same technologies employed in making ceramics. Nevertheless, the architectonic forms of these bronzes reflect the tensile strength of metal.