Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum | Busch-Reisinger Museum | Arthur M. Sackler Museum

The move of the Zhou capital eastward in the wake of nomadic invasions marked a diminution of Zhou authority and the rise in power of surrounding states. Although in the earlier Western Zhou period, bronze was employed primarily for ritual vessels, weapons, and tools, during the Eastern Zhou era, it began to be used to make mirrors, bells, and chariot fittings as well. Bronze mirrors were polished smooth on their reflective sides, and their backs were intricately decorated with auspicious symbols or cosmological designs. Their reflectivity was believed to create light in a darkened tomb and to ward off evil. Chariots were vital for military warfare, and those of the powerful were fitted with ornate finials and attachments, which during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) were often inlaid with precious stones and metals. This technique was also employed with greater frequency in the casting of bronze vessels, revealing yet another shift in the function of such objects, from commemorative status symbols to more decorative vestiges of a ritual tradition.

Object Number

1944.57.4

Title

'He' Ritual Wine Vessel in the Form of a Standing Duck

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

probably 5th century BCE

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China

Period

Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/204198

Medium

Cast bronze with gray-green patina

Dimensions

H. 20.5 x W. 17 x L. 30.8 cm (8 1/16 x 6 11/16 x 12 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Anonymous gift

Accession Year

1944

Object Number

1944.57.4

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

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Sueji Umehara, Shina-Kodo Seikwa (Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America), Yamanaka & Co. (Osaka, Japan, 1933), part 1, vol. 3, no. 193

Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Buddhist Art Dating from Shang Dynasty 1766 B.C. to Yuan Dynasty A.D. 1367, auct. cat., Yamanaka & Co. (New York, NY, October 1938), p. 51, no. 41

Rong Geng [Jung Keng], Shang Zhou Yiqi Tongkao (The Bronzes of Shang and Chou), Harvard-Yenching Institute (Beijing, 1941), vol. 2, p. 368, no. 694

Chen Mengjia, Yin Zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu (A corpus of Chinese bronzes in American Collections), Kyuko Shoin (Tokyo, Japan, 1977), vol. 1, p. 128, A 679; vol. 2, p. 982, A 679 (ill.)

S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, 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

Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/07/2018 - 01/06/2019

Collection Highlights

Google Art Project

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