Zi Zhong Jiang Pan 子仲姜盤

 

Zi Zhong Jiang Pan

This Pan, made during China's Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), is a broad and shallow bronze vessel used to wash the face and hands. On the outside wall of the Pan, two dragons with curved horns scramble over the mouth rim, stretching their heads downward, seemingly for a better look at the inside scene. Inside the Pan, fish, frogs and tortoises are carved in low relief. What interesting is that each animal circles around 360-degree axis fixed to the bottom. All the animals seem to come to life when the vessel is filled with water. There is also an inscription of 32 characters in 6 lines on the Pan, telling that the vessel was made by an official for his wife Zhong Jiang.