Describe the development of art during the period from 1766 to 1122 B.C
By about 2000 BC, people in China had learnt from the people of West Asia how to make bronze out of copper and tin. They began to make many jars and plaques (flat pieces) out of bronze that were used for worshipping their gods. Right from the beginning, these were of high quality.
About 1300 BC Late Shang rulers brought bronze pitcher from Henan of about 1100 BC, with inscriptions. These bronze jars and boxes were cast in molds using the lost-wax technique. Usually they were cast in several different pieces and then soldered together with melted bronze or tin.
Some of them were plain with just a few lines cut (incised) into them. Other jars and goblets had lots of fancy decorations sticking out all over them. Some were abstract designs, others showed plants or animals or mythical monsters like dragons. Some showed demons, or human faces.
Towards the end of the Shang Dynasty, about 1200 BC, people began to write messages on these bronze jars and cups using the earliest Chinese pictograms.
