Skip to main content

Ritual Wine Vessel

Original Language TitleTsun
Original Language TitleZun
CultureChinese
Date11th century B.C.E.
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 12 1/2 × 9 × 6 1/4 inches (31.75 × 22.86 × 15.88 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number50-67
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 232
Collections
Gallery Label
Flanges accentuate the contrapuntal profile of this zun wine vessel. Although the zun looks like a fatter version of a gu beaker, it is a distinct type and probably performed a different ritual function. The decoration on the main and lower panels consists of a central mask flanked by small dragons, while small birds occupy the narrow band immediately above. Strange dragons crawl vertically up the neck panels.
Provenance

Tonying and Co.;

Purchased from Tonying and Co. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1950.

Published References

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 169, 171 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 13 (repro.).

Marc F. Wilson, “Form and Design: Chinese Archaic Bronzes and Jades” Apollo, special issue for the Asian art collection in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Vol. XCVII, no. 133 (March 1973), 50, pl. 6 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 275 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 289, pl. 18 (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


Ritual Wine Vessel
12th-11th century B.C.E.
58-9
Ritual Wine Vessel
12th-11th century B.C.E.
54-26
overall
12th-11th century B.C.E.
55-52
Ritual Wine Vessel
late 11th century B.C.E.
51-28 A,B
Ritual Wine Vessel, type hu
12th century B.C.E.
52-50
Ritual Wine Vessel
4th-3rd century B.C.E.
47-20
Ritual Wine Vessel (jia)
12th-11th century B.C.E.
34-66
Ritual Wine Vessel, type lei
12th-11th century B.C.E.
47-78
Ritual Cooking Vessel
late 11th century B.C.E.
41-33
overall
Western Zhou dynasty (1045-771 B.C.E.)
32-68/46
Miniature Ritual Vessel Incense Burner
Northern Wei dynasty (386-534 C.E.)
F86-45/1
Miniature Ritual Vessel Round Stand on Three Legs
Northern Wei dynasty (386-534 C.E.)
F86-45/3