Skip to content[Metal (bronze?) vessel, very crudely cast. It has a large quantity of rust and hardened soil (?) on its surface. In style of decoration, it evokes the Western Zhou (about 1100 to 771BCE) period. However it is probably not of that vintage. The rusting and its heavy weight seems to indicate some iron in the metal--something that would not be used in the Western Zhou. Iron was used to cast sculpture, etc. later, especially by the Ming and Qing onwards. Was this piece the result of later attempts (i.e. Ming/Qing/modern) to create an antique object? The hardened mud/soil accretions may be an indication of this scenario.] Source: Examination by Huntington Library art curator, 2013 | Collections | The Huntington