A green-grey cast bronze vessel that stands on three tall, pointed legs, has a side handle, and two protruding forms standing up on the front and back of the lip. The vessel is short and stout. It is decorated with a horizontal band of finely engraved lines.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A green-grey cast bronze vessel that stands on three tall legs on a grey background with two of the legs closer to the viewer and the third shown in the center-back. The three legs are thick and come to a point at the bottom with an orange line running down the sides. The short and stout vessel has a side handle that faces the left and has a protruding, patterned form on its top. The body of the vessel is decorated with a horizontal band of finely engraved lines. The lip of the vessel flares out and has two decorated protruding forms standing up on the front and back of the lip. These forms are narrow in the middle and their tops and bottoms flare out.

Gallery Text

A highly religious and ritualistic society, the Shang established their dynastic kingdom in northern China around 1600 BCE. Their king served as the intermediary between his subjects, a powerful god known as Shang Di, and deceased ancestors that the Shang believed could intercede on their behalf. The extraordinary emphasis placed on ancestor worship and state ritual during the Shang dynasty necessitated the production of massive numbers of bronze vessels and ceremonial weapons. Specific types of bronze vessels for cooking, warming, or serving sacrificial offerings of food and wine were required for ceremonies designed to feed and appease ancestral spirits. Like their ceramic prototypes, bronze legged vessels could be placed over a fire for heating. Covered vessels protected their contents from spills or contamination. Ceremonial weaponry, such as the jade blades with turquoise-inlaid bronze hafts displayed here, were an important part of state regalia, as Shang rulers owed their domination over neighboring societies to their military prowess. Ritual bronzes and weapons were essential burial objects, for they represented the power and authority that the deceased intended to take with him into the afterlife.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.52.118
Title
'Jia' Ritual Wine Vessel with a Decorative Band of Dragons against a Leiwen Background
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/203994

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 greenish patina; with inscription cast on the interior
Dimensions
H. 25.7 x W. 19.0 x Diam. 15.4 cm (10 1/8 x 7 1/2 x 6 1/16 in.)
Weight 2523.11 g
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: single ideograph integrally cast on vessel floor

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Yamanaka & Co., New York, January 28, 1941] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1941-1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.52.118
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 303

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

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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