1 | BRONZE DING Song dynasty, 12th century Height: 23 cm | 9 in Click image for full-size version The circular body is of a flattened U-shaped form – with everted rim, two loop handles, and supported on three tubular legs; this construction most closely imitates that of a food vessel of the early Zhou dynasty, 11th century BC. The body and the top half of each leg are decorated with plain flanges; these divide the repeating taotie mask decoration that, together with the leiwen (dense spiral pattern) background, constitutes the design motif. The Song period engendered a tremendous interest in the search for antiquity – initially driven by the rulers, as a means for the dynasty to establish its legitimacy. This stemmed from the fact that China had been open to much immigration in the preceding centuries – its natural borders blurred, and the threat of foreign invasion ever present. The Song emperors were keen to renew their cultural heritage and follow the practices of their ancestors, as laid down in the classics. Thus we have the compilation by Nieh Ch’ung-i of the Illustrations to the Three Rites (San-li t’u) which became the standard reference for the manufacture of objects to be used in Song court rituals. Another body of literature is to be found in the catalogues compiled by scholars with an interest in the past – their curiosity fuelled by archeological excavations, and a desire to collect. During the early 12th century, the Emperor Hui-tsung is said to have had a collection numbering some ten thousand pieces. These publications – the earliest of which is the K’ao-ku t’u (Antiquarian Illustrations) compiled around 1092 by Lu Ta- lin – adopted an investigative approach, examining and noting the different decorations and inscriptions, the shapes, sizes, weights, and location of discovery. Similar example: Possessing the Past, Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, by Wen Fong and James Watt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996 – plate 97 illustrates a bronze tripod vessel from the Song dynasty, dated 1116. Oxford thermoluminescence test no. C107e67 confirms the dating.