A bright green-grey cast bronze vessel that stands on three narrow, pointed legs, has a tall body, and a top lip that protrudes out. The body is decorated with a finely engraved pattern.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A bright green-grey cast bronze vessel that stands upright on a grey background. It has three narrow legs that come to a point at the bottom, one leg is closer to the viewer while the other two are behind on both sides. The body is tall and narrow and is decorated with a finely engraved pattern within a thick horizontal band. The top lip protrudes out. On the right it comes to an upturned point and the left comes to a thick, rectangular form. There is a form standing upright slightly on the left of the lip.

Gallery Text

At its most basic level, casting bronze entails pouring a molten mixture of copper and tin into a mold and letting the mixture harden as it cools. In ancient China, the actual process was quite complex and involved ceramics technology in virtually every step. First, a model of the desired shape was created in clay and fired in a kiln; next, fresh clay was packed around this ceramic model, removed in multiple sections, and fired; and finally, the hardened section molds created in this process were reassembled around a ceramic core with space set between core and molds, and molten bronze was poured into this assemblage. The production of bronzes in China was inextricably linked to the region’s millennia-long ceramics tradition — in its use of kiln technology, its adaptation of ceramic vessels for bronze vessel shapes (such as the tripod ewer displayed here), and the creation of a casting method reliant on a potter’s skills.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1944.57.2
Title
'Jue' Ritual Wine Vessel with 'Taotie' Decor
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
14th-11th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/203946

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Cast bronze with heavy incrustations of green and russet patina
Dimensions
H. 19.7 x L. 16.5 x Diam. 6.3 cm (7 3/4 x 6 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Private Collection (by 1944), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1944.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Anonymous gift
Accession Year
1944
Object Number
1944.57.2
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Chen Mengjia, Yin Zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu (A corpus of Chinese bronzes in American Collections), Kyuko Shoin (Tokyo, Japan, 1977), A 369

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu