2012_91_42b.jpg

2012_91_42b.jpg

(鼎) Ding tripod(comma) (汉朝) Han Dynasty 206 BCE – 220 CE. Cold painted ceramic. The Ding vessel was very important to the worship of ancestors(comma) with the earliest examples dating to the Erlitou site 1900 BCE. Elegant bronze versions appeared in the Shang Dynasty. By the Zhou dynasty 1046 BCE(comma) the number of Ding permitted was restricted by rank with a king being allowed nine for ritual use.