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A cast bronze box standing on short, thin legs and small squares cut out of the walls. The top is slightly wider with two thick handles at the top. The top has long, swirling protruding forms along the corner edges.

A mottled green-grey cast bronze box standing on short, thin swirling legs and six small squares cut out of the walls. Four of the square cut-outs are close together on the right-side wall and two are close together on the left. It is shown on a faded grey background at a diagonal. The top is slightly wider with two thick, rectangular handles at the top that go straight up. The top is decorated with a thick, swirling pattern along the lip and long, swirling protruding forms along the corner edges that are attached by small pieces.

Gallery Text

Like their Shang predecessors, the Zhou produced sets of bronze ritual vessels for use in state rites and burial in tombs. In style, form, and function, the earliest bronze vessels from the Western Zhou period were virtually indistinguishable from those made by the Shang, for the Zhou sought to legitimize their ascension over their defeated rivals by closely replicating the tangible symbols of Shang power. Before long, however, traditional Shang decorative motifs such as the taotie animal mask began to evolve, and new forms emerged, such as the confronting dragons on the inscribed gui food vessel (far right) or the elephants on the covered you wine vessel (near left) displayed here. Inscriptions on these objects expanded, from single clan marks to longer memorializing inscriptions, signaling a shift in the function of bronze vessels from purely sacred objects belonging to powerful Shang clan members, to status symbols commemorating the accomplishments of Zhou kings and nobles.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1944.57.18
Title
'Li' Ritual Food Vessel in the Form of a Square Stove and Cauldron
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
10th-8th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Western Zhou period, c. 1050-771 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/200497

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 with gray-green patina; with a five-character dedicatory inscription cast on vessel floor
Dimensions
H. 17.9 x W. 15 x D. 12.3 cm (7 1/16 x 5 7/8 x 4 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: five-character dedicatory inscription integrally cast on vessel floor: Ji Zhen zuo zun li (Ji Zhen made [this] Li vessel)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Private Collection (by 1944), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1944.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Anonymous gift
Accession Year
1944
Object Number
1944.57.18
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Rong Geng [Jung Keng], Shang Zhou Yiqi Tongkao (The Bronzes of Shang and Chou), Harvard-Yenching Institute (Beijing, 1941), vol. 2, p. 97, no. 174
  • Chen Mengjia, Yin Zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu (A corpus of Chinese bronzes in American Collections), Kyuko Shoin (Tokyo, Japan, 1977), A 131

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, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 12/19/2017; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/17/2018 - 01/01/2050
  • Mirroring China's Past: Emperors, Scholars, and Their Bronzes, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 02/25/2018 - 05/13/2018

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