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The Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the most important repositories of Asian art in North America, and is particularly known for its rich collection of ancient Chinese bronzes. Among the many bronzes in the collection, if you want to choose a collection as the pinnacle representative, this "Zizha Lang Bird Zun" (hereinafter referred to as the Bird Zun) should be well deserved.
Zicha Lane Bird Zun (Photo: Naturalist)
The bird is 26.5 cm high, 20 cm long and 13.5 cm wide. It is shaped like a blazing owl, that is, an owl. In ancient times, the owl was a sacred bird that people loved and worshipped very much, so it often became the original form used in artworks. In 1976, a pair of Shang Dynasty owls were unearthed from the tomb of Yinxu women in Anyang City, Henan Province, which is the earliest bird statue found so far.
Business · "Good woman" owl
(Source: Henan Museum)
The back of the bird's head has a four-character vertical gold inscription - "Zizha Lane Bird", which is the origin of its name. "Zi" is the name of the person who casts the artifact; "Cha" means "to make", to make; "Get" has the meaning of playing and playing. The four characters are strung together, and it is the person "Zi" who made this bird for himself to play with.
The four characters of "Zizha Bird" are wrong gold inscriptions
（来源：The Freer Chinese Bronzes, 1967）
As we know, "Zun" is a ritual vessel used to hold wine, which is mainly used during sacrifices. Because of the importance of this type of bronzes, the words "respect" and "respect" that we use today are derived from this. It is rare for a bird to explicitly state that the purpose of the object is for personal amusement.
The ornamentation of the bird is extremely complex, gorgeous and delicate. Its eyes are wrongly golden, bird jewelry feathers, back lines and dot patterns, neck deformed crest pattern (filled back pattern), shoulder carved dragon pattern, back decorated feather pattern, abdomen decorated with scales and crest pattern, feet decorated with moire.
Bird's head detail
(Source: asia.si.edu)
Detail of the bird's body
(Source: asia.si.edu)
Bird's foot detail
(Source: asia.si.edu)
The head of the bird can be separated from the body and fixed with a hidden tenon. It can be opened or closed with a slight twist, and it is not easy to fall out at ordinary times, so the practicality is fully considered.
The head is linked to the tenon
（来源：The Freer Chinese Bronzes, 1967）
The hooked beak is the mouth of the bird. The upper beak is movable, hinged on a pivot, usually closed to prevent foreign objects from falling, and can be opened automatically when tilting to pour wine, and the design is very clever, which is a model of both beauty and practicality.