A cast bronze buffalo-shaped vessel that stands on four legs. It has an olive-green patina and its head has a sloped, flat snout, wide eyes, teardrop shaped ears, and horns that have an engraved pattern. There is a curved handle on its back behind its head and an indented line around its back that shows where the lid separates.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A cast bronze buffalo-shaped vessel that stands on four legs and diagonally faces to the viewer’s right. It has an olive-green patina and has some light wear along the feet and snout. Its head has a sloped, flat snout, wide almond-shaped eyes, teardrop shaped ears that point straight out horizontally, and horns that have an engraved pattern. The horns are slanted up and behind its head. Its body is very round and smooth and its legs are smooth and slightly flare out at the bottoms. There is a curved handle on its back behind its head and an indented line around its back that shows where the lid separates.

Gallery Text

Although there are no contemporaneous records explaining the meaning of the decorations on Shang bronzes, the preponderance of zoomorphic motifs and the emergence of animal-shaped vessels made of bronze or jade are clear indications of the importance of animals in the repertoire of Shang artisans. The principle Shang motif was the animal mask, referred to in later texts as a taotie. This enigmatic image (seen repeatedly on vessels in the adjacent cases) is not identifiable as any one beast but appears to be a composite of creatures both real and imagined, with two stark eyes, horns, ears, and fangs. During the late Shang period (14th–11th century BCE), animal-shaped vessels began to be cast, perhaps in response to zoomorphic bronzes introduced from southern China. The guang wine vessel displayed here is a magnificent example — it cleverly incorporates a tiger at the front of the vessel and an owl at the back handle; the animals’ heads are represented on the lid and their more subtly rendered bodies are on the vessel.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1919.103
Title
Ritual Vessel in the Form of a Water Buffalo
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/209921

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 olive-green patina
Dimensions
H. 16.7 x W. 21.7 x D. 9.9 cm (6 9/16 x 8 9/16 x 3 7/8 in.)
Weight: 3614.56 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Hervey E. Wetzel, Boston (by 1919), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1919.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Hervey E. Wetzel
Accession Year
1919
Object Number
1919.103
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 677
  • Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and Arthur M. Sackler Museum (Washington, D.C. and Cambridge, Mass., 1987), p. 116, fig. 158
  • Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (Volume IIB), Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and Arthur M. Sackler Museum (Washington, D.C. and Cambridge, Mass., 1990), p. 710, fig. 119.2

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: 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