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A green cast bronze piece that is in the shape of an animal head lays flat on a grey background. The head has two front-facing eyes, swirling shapes around them, and a downturned beak that holds a suspended ring.

A green cast bronze piece that is in the shape of an animal head lays flat on a grey background. The head has two round, front-facing eyes in the center. It also has swirling shapes that come out from the head and turn upward. The bottom has a downturned beak that holds an undecorated, suspended ring.

Gallery Text

By the Eastern Han period (when the Han capital was located in present-day Luoyang, Henan province), Chinese potters had discovered the efficacy of using lead-fluxed glazes for their ceramic burial wares. As a fluxing agent, lead oxide lowers the melting point of a glaze, reducing the amount of fuel required for firing. Copper and iron metal oxides were added to the glaze to impart the green and brown colors reminiscent of bronzes with different patinas; they were thus especially useful for glazing ceramic wares that imitated more expensive bronze ritual vessels. The decorative elements on these objects—mystical mountains with swirling clouds, mythical beasts, immortal figures, and bear-form supports—are associated with cosmological realms of immortals and closely replicate the relief ornamentation on sumptuous Han bronzes. Although the tombs of the most wealthy and important Han personages continued to be furnished luxuriously, ceramic reproductions of expensive burial goods and tomb sculptures representing animals, servants, and entertainers became acceptable substitutes for real objects and living creatures.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2000.28.A-B
Title
'Pushou' Mask Handle with a Suspended Ring, Perhaps One Handle from a Set of Handles for a Coffin
Classification
Tools and Equipment
Work Type
handle
Date
221-206 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Qin dynasty, 221-206 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/185128

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
Cast bronze
Dimensions
H. 12 x W. 16.1 cm (4 3/4 x 6 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2000], sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2000.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, David A. Ellis Asian Art Fund
Accession Year
2000
Object Number
2000.28.A-B
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • 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

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