Ritual Wine Vessel

Original Language TitleHu

CultureChinese

Date12th-11th century B.C.E.

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 16 × 11 inches (40.64 × 27.94 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number55-52

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Asia House Gallery, New York, October 10 - December 15, 1968.

Gallery Label

This vessel is outstanding for the variety of its motifs and the richness of its textures. A large bovine mask with bulbous eyes, jaw and claws dominates the belly. Whereas in this mask the features are all linked together, those of the mask above it appear as discrete, disconnected elements. Above this is an ibex-like mask in high relief flanked by two dragons. At the very top and bottom registers, additional dragon variants lie flush against the background. Originally a cord would have been threaded through the lug handles for easy portability.

Provenance

J. D. Chen;

Purchased from J. D. Chen by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1955.

Published References

Chen, J.D., “Essays on Chinese Antiques,” (Hong Kong: 1952), p. 149 (repro.).

“Recent Museum Accessions,” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, vol. ix (New York: Asia Society, 1955), fig. 21 (repro.).

“Understanding Asia,” Kansas City Times, March 26, 1956 (repro.).

Von Eleanor v. Erdberg Consten, Das Alte China (Stuttgart: G. Kilpper, 1958), pl. 19 (repro.).

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), 170 (repro.).

Sueji Umehara, “Yin Hsu, Ancient Capital of the Shang Dynasty at Anyang,” (Tokyo: 1964), 93, ill (repro.).

Max Loehr et al., “Ritual Vessels of Bronze Age China,” (New York: Asia Society, 1968), 83, no. 33 (repro.).

William Justema, The Pleasure of Pattern (New York: Reinhold Book, 1968), pl. 49 (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), 11 (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), 49, pl. 4 (repro.).

Percy Knauth et. al., The Metalsmiths (New York: Time-Life Books, 1974), 121, ill (repro.).

Arts of Asia, vol. 5 (Kowloon, Hong Kong: Arts of Asia, November- December 1975), 47, fig. 9 (repro.).

William Justema, Pattern: A Historical Panorama (Boston: 1976), 54, no.68 (repro.).

William Watson, L’art de L’Ancienne Chine (Paris: Éditions d'art Lucien Mazenod, 1979), 62, pl. 16 (repro.).

Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 148, pl. 78 (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), 60, 272 (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), 288, pl. 13 (repro.).

Colin Mackenzie, with contributions by Ling-En Lu, Masterworks of Chinese art: the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2011), 11, fig. 1, 24, cat. 2 (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.