Jue
Late Shang or Early Western Zhou (ca. 1100-1000 BCE)
Bronze. Santa Barbara Museum of Art
(Click on the image to interact. Please go FULLSCREEN for best effect)
To create this high resolution interaction model of a Chinese bronze I used an Artec Spider scanner.
![](https://i0.wp.com/barbierilow.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/spiderscan.jpg?resize=406%2C535&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/barbierilow.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/jueonstand.jpg?resize=648%2C435&ssl=1)
This created a complex point cloud of millions of points, which later needed to be cleaned up and refined.
![](https://i0.wp.com/barbierilow.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/point-cloud-e1645630034502.jpg?resize=648%2C365&ssl=1)
Later this was “skinned” into a mesh model, and then textured. The model and texture was cleaned up in Maya and Mudbox.
![](https://i0.wp.com/barbierilow.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/smoothmodel-e1645630201501.jpg?resize=648%2C365&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/barbierilow.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/textured-model.jpg?resize=648%2C347&ssl=1)
The scanning process was able to capture the texture of the leiwen spirals on the bronze, which my earlier process of photogrammetry was not able to. I have also annotated the ancestral dedication under the loop handle. For the full effect, please go FULLSCREEN and make sure the textures are set to HD.
For a lecture on the production, design, and function of Shang and Zhou bronzes, see the Lectures page.