這件斝尺寸巨大，達到50.8cm。在存世的斝中，紋飾如此有力，皮殼如此清爽的作品並不多見。商代的斝氣勢磅礴，是毫無疑問的王的器物。
古代青銅器具有祭祀和宗教的性質，與政治合法性密不可分，是中國史學和傳統古籍學的原始材料。
安陽是商朝最後的王都（約公元前1700-前1100年），安陽出土的青銅器中，這件大酒器（或稱斝）是非常罕見的紀念性器物之一。青銅紀念器的數量可能很少；每件青銅紀念器的造價一定不菲，而且是用來表示高階（通常是皇室）的地位。留存下來的就更少了。這件酒器是商朝祭祀祖先時使用的。它的三條伸展的腿將酒杯支撐在火上，暗示酒可能會被加熱。
商都安陽，參考SACA學會文章：《安阳：「中国古代王城」特展 · 弗利尔美术馆 - Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings》
向逝去的祖先供奉美酒和食物是商朝王室和貴族必不可少的儀式。商朝人相信，他們的祖先能夠向天神求情，賜予豐收和戰爭的勝利。他們的祭祀活動涉及到與超自然界的溝通（而用龜殼或牛肩胛骨占卜的做法進一步支持了這一觀點）。在這裡，青銅器上的動物面具正面對著觀者，象徵性地成為與祖先溝通的信使。青銅器的靜態紀念性為儀式賦予了莊嚴肅穆的氣氛。
商代青銅參考SACA學會寶榜文章：《傲视群雄：商代青铜器的铸造技术厉害在哪里？ - Pioneering Techniques of Shang Dynasty.》
來源
約 10 年前，經銷商寺崎先生在島本先生的藝術商店首次看到這件青銅器。據說，島本先生是在第二次世界大戰前從一位擁有肥皂公司 Mizura Co. 的著名收藏家手中得到這件青銅器的，而這件青銅器早在明治時期就已傳到日本。六年前，寺崎先生從島本夫人手中購得。
值得注意的是，這位經銷商寺崎先生是不言堂坂本五郎先生的弟子--他是日本著名的中國藝術（尤其是中國青銅器）收藏家/經銷商。(克利夫蘭四季墨竹圖》（元代中國畫）曾被坂本先生收藏）。據京都國立博物館的一位館長證實，寺崎先生也為京都國立博物館提供了很好的藝術品。
參考：
坂本五郎 Sakamoto Goro
Ancient bronze vessels are ritual and religious in nature, linked inextricably to political legitimization, and are source materials for Chinese historiography and traditional antiquarianism.
Description
This large wine vessel (or jia) is among those very rare, monumental pieces uncovered from Anyang, the last royal capital of the Shang dynasty (c.1700–c.1100 BCE). Probably very few monumental bronze vessels were ever made; each of them must have cost a fortune and was used to designate high-ranking (often royal) status. Even fewer have survived. This wine vessel was used for the ancestral rites of the Shang. Its three splayed legs supported the cup over a fire, suggesting that the wine might be heated.
Offering wine and food to their departed ancestors was an essential ritual practice performed by the Shang royalty and aristocracy. The Shang people believed that their ancestors were able to intercede with the high god to confer fruitful harvests and victories in battles. Their ritual actions involved communication with the supernatural realm (and this was further supported by the practice of divination with the use of a tortoise shell or a cattle shoulder blade). Here, the animal mask on the bronze vessel stares frontally at the viewer and serves symbolically as a messenger of communication with the ancestors. It conjures up the potency of mystery, whereas the static monumentality of the bronze vessel lends an air of dignified solemnity to the ritual ceremony.
Provenance
The dealer, Mr. Terasaki, first saw this piece of bronze vessel at the art shop of Mr. Shimamoto about 10 years ago. It was reported that Mr. Shimamoto got it before World War II from a famous collector who owned a soap company, Mizura Co., and the piece came to Japan as early as the Meiji period. Six years ago, Mr. Terasaki acquired it from Mrs. Shimamoto.
Notably, this dealer, Mr. Terasaki, is a disciple of Mr. Sakamoto Goro of Hugen Do, a prominent Japanese collector/dealer of Chinese art, especially Chinese bronze. (The Cleveland set of ink bamboos of four seasons, Yuan dynasty Chinese paintings, was once collected by Mr. Sakamoto.) As confirmed by a curator of the Kyoto National Museum, Mr. Terasaki also supplies great works of art for the KNM.
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