What is "taotie"

n. A motif depicting a gluttonous ogre, commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou Dynasty.

The Taotie (; sometimes translated as a gluttonous ogre mask) is a motif commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasty. The design typically consists of a zoomorphic mask, described as being frontal, bilaterally symmetrical, with a pair of raised eyes and typically no lower jaw area. Some argue that the design can be traced back to jade pieces found in Neolithic sites such as the Liangzhu culture (3310–2250 BCE).