Detail of a 'Lei' wine vessel, 11th century BC (bronze) (see also 3601139)

Bronze Age vessels were highly valued as antiquities by Chinese rulers and scholar-officials throughout history. In fact, this is one of a pair of inscribed vessels first published in the Xiqing Gujian, the 18th-century imperial catalogue of bronzes belonging to the Qianlong dynasty emperor (r. 1736–95). The deer shown in the decorative bands on the neck and lid are unusual, but their inclusion here is explained in the thirty-six-character inscription cast within the vessel: In the first month of the day dingchou, the king went to Lu where he correctly performed the liao sacrifice. The king ordered Shi Tao to present the Prince of Mo with three deer. The Prince of Mo in order to extoll the king’s grace made this precious vessel.