Shang Dynasty scrollwork center column Meng

The Shang Dynasty vortex-patterned middle-column bowl is a bronze vessel used to hold water to prevent insects from eroding. It is from the early Shang Dynasty. It is 12 cm high, 29.5 cm in diameter, 16 cm in round foot diameter, 0.4 cm thick, 8 cm high in the middle column, 8.2 cm in diameter at the top of the column, and weighs 4.25 kg. It was unearthed in a cellar pit at the Xiangyang Hui Food Factory in Zhengzhou, southeast of the Shang City in 1982.

The Shang Dynasty vortex-patterned middle-column bowl has a wide mouth, folded rim, bulging belly, and round bottom. There is a column in the center of the bottom of the bowl, with a mushroom-shaped top and a ring foot underneath. The upper part of the outer wall of the belly is decorated with three circles of string patterns; the top of the middle column is decorated with vortex patterns; the ring foot is decorated with a circle of string patterns and three square holes. (Figure 1)

Figure 1 A top view of a Shang Dynasty vortex-patterned bowl with a central column

According to the casting marks left on the body of the vessel, its casting process is relatively complex. It should have been cast using a split casting method, that is, the central column was cast first, then placed in the bowl, and then cast with three outer molds to form the bowl body. At the same time, the central column and the bowl body were cast together.

This bowl was unearthed in 1982 from a cellar pit at the Xiangyang Hui Food Factory in Zhengzhou, outside the southeast corner of the famous Zhengzhou Shang City. Other 12 bronze vessels unearthed with it include a large square tripod, a large round tripod, a flat-footed round tripod, an ox-headed zun, a sheep-headed jar, a handle-beamed jar, a goblet, and a plate.

This Shang Dynasty vortex-patterned bowl with a central column is the earliest bronze bowl discovered in my country. It dates from roughly the period from the time when Shang Tang destroyed the Xia Dynasty and established the state to before Pan Geng moved to Yin[2].