White Pottery Pot with Carved Taotie Pattern and Double Rings

Taotie is a mythical carnivorous monster. Bronzes in the Shang and Zhou dynasties commonly used the head of these creature in decorations, which is known as the taotie pattern. Use of ‘taotie’ to name this motif began with a book, Xuanhe bogutu, written in the 12th century of the Song dynasty (960-1279). By the Shang dynasty, due to increases in kiln temperature and finer clays, the fabric of white ceramics became finer and whiter. The elaborate carving techniques show the high level of development of late Shang white ceramics.