Gu Wine Goblet

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Gu Wine Goblet
China; Shang dynasty; 13th-12th c. BC

The surface of the base is richly ornamented with traditional motifs from the Shang dynasty - the taotie mask and the leiwen thunder pattern.

The name taotie was mentioned for the first time in the book The Springs and Autumns of the Lu Family (3rd c. BC) as a monster, head without body, which devoured humans and himself and sybolized exaggerated recklessness. On the stem, near the repeated thunder motif, there are two pierced symmetrical crosses, common in that period but of unknown significance.