Fang Hu Ceremonial wine vessel as burial gift China, Han dynasty, 206 BC. - 220 AD. Clay molded, burnt & colorfully painted Original lid Height 40 cm, with lid, width 19 x 19 cm A ceremonial Fang Hu for the deceased to have wine in afterlife. Gray finely muddled terracotta with painting depicting two taotie ( 饕餮 , "eaters", in use as apotropaic since the Neolithic and popular motifs on archaic Chinese bronzes), and two painted plastic pseudo handles also with taotie motif. Clay renditions of bronze ceremonial vessels were especially common in the Han period, but this specimen stands out from the pieces usually painted with geometric patterns in its skillful depiction of the two large taotie. Restorations to the vase and the lid We guarantee the specified age!