A dissertation on the ancient Chinese vases of the Shang dynasty from 1743 to 1496, B. C.
A dissertation by Peter Perring Thoms, published in London in 1851 by the author and sold by J. Gilbert, on ancient Chinese bronze vessels of the Shang dynasty. The plates are numbered engravings of ritual tripods, urns and covered vessels, drawn for a Western antiquarian readership. The pictures show dense geometric and taotie-style surface decoration in bands and panels, which a designer could take as a source for border patterns, repeat motifs and ornamental frames.
