Chinese antiquarians were interested in the lessons of the past. Beginning in the Song dynasty (960–1279), excavated bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (c. 1600–256 bce) were available for sale. Forgeries of Bronze Age vessels also began to appear around this time. During the later Ming and Qing (1368–1911) dynasties, ritual bronze shapes were copied in other materials, primarily porcelain, lacquer, and enamel. While some retained the original Bronze Age association with with ritual, many of these later objects had a decorative purpose.