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A dark brown/green bronze vessel that has a detailed, overlapping 3D pattern along the sides. The pattern has small inlaid turquoise and a white material. There are two curved serpents for handles on both sides. The top lip is short and flares out.

A dark/green brown openwork bronze vessel that is shown upright on a grey background with its handles facing the left and right of the viewer. The vessel’s body has a detailed, overlapping 3D looping pattern along the sides. The pattern has small inlaid turquoise and a white material where two loops meet. There are two curved serpents for handles on both sides with their tongues sticking out. The top lip is short and flares out. The foot is short and thick. There is a horizontal line through the center that separates the top and the bottom.

Gallery Text

As its name implies, the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) was an era during which various states that were ruled by powerful clans competed for supremacy in China. The high demand for luxury goods to furnish the tombs of wealthy nobles enabled numerous artistic traditions to flourish, resulting in an array of ornate artifacts from this period and the subsequent Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). Bronze vessels continued to be commissioned by the ruling elite during both eras, but the addition of gold and intricate openwork designs (here seen on the gilt bronze pedestaled dou and the small openwork pou vessels) transformed this previously austere tradition into a more decorative artistic craft. Jade containers made in shapes traditionally used for bronze or lacquer vessels (such as the three exhibited here) were the epitome of ostentation, as there was no better way to demonstrate wealth than to reproduce a luxury item in a more expensive medium.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.52.70
Title
Small 'Pou' Jar with Openwork Decoration of Interlaced Dragons and with Two Serpentine Handles
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
5th-4th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Shaanxi province, Xi‘an
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204391

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1600, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Bronze Age to the Golden Age
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze with openwork decoration and with inlays of turquoise and malachite. Reportedly unearthed in 1911 in the vicinity of Xi'an, Shaanxi province
Technique
Inlaid
Dimensions
H. 9.7 x W. 12.4 x Diam 9.9 cm (3 13/16 x 4 7/8 x 3 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Ton-Ying & Co., New York, November 12, 1935] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1935-1943), 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
1943.52.70
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation (New York, NY, 1995), p. 28, fig. 23
  • Helen Loveday, Diversity in Eastern Zhou Bronze Casting: A Look at a Group of Openwork Vessels, Journal of East Asian Archaeology, Brill Academic Publishers (Leiden) (Leiden, 2002), 4, I-4, pp. 101-142, p. 104, fig. 2

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: 1600 Early China II, 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