Si Mu Wu Fang Ding

A Late Shang bronze ritual vessel, a tetrapod weighing 1,925 pounds (875 kilograms), the largest metal-casting surviving from Chinese antiquity. Late Shang ritual vessels reveal high technological competence and large-scale, labor-intensive metal production. Said to have been found in the Anyang royal cemetery, the vessel is inscribed with a dedication to an empress and dates probably from the 12th century BC. It is now in the Historical Museum, Beijing.

[5sw Mu Wu fang-ting]. The largest metal casting surviving from antiquity, a Chinese bronze ritual vessel cast in one piece except for its handles and weighing 875 kg. Said to have been found in 1939 in the Anyang royal cemetery, the vessel is inscribed with a dedication to an empress and dates probably from the 12th century bc. It is now in the Historical Museum, Beijing.