Search Results

Title

Blue-and-white ritual stand with character for 'che' [ritual]

Artist

Artist Unknown, Korea

Century

19th century

Object Creation Date

19th century

Accession Number

2004/1.283

Medium and Support

porcelain with blue underglaze painting

Primary Keywords

porcelain, opaque

ritual

Title

Dagger-axe (Ko)

Artist

Artist Unknown, China

Physical Description

ceremonial jade ge dagger-axe, pointed blade on one end and squared tang for hafting on the other. It was broken and mented in the middle. Traces of cinnabar, red mercury sulfide, remain on the jade surface, indicating it probably came from a Shang elite burial in China. The jade material was probably fire treated to create the bony look.

Century

16th-12th century BCE

Object Creation Date

1600 BCE - 1100 BCE

Accession Number

1960/2.119

Medium and Support

heat-treated jade

Primary Keywords

ritual

stone

weaponry

Title

Fang ding (“square tripod” cooking vessel) with taotie mask and gui dragon design

Artist

Artist Unknown, China

Physical Description

square ding (ting) tripod with four legs, the body as well as the upper portion of the four legs is decorated with "t'ao-t'ieh" zoomorphic design. One of the leg was recast after the rest of the body has been completed, thus had a less refined craftmanship and joint line at its base. The double loop handles are also decorated with zoomorphic design. A group of three inscription is cast on the upper portion of the interior wall, which reads as Fu (father) Ji (day name), followed by an symbolic representation of a chariot, possibly a clan emblem. The interior is plain, the animal bone remains attached to the bottom and variations in patina patterns with a line running through the middle indicates that the vessel was once filled with cooked meat offerings, presumably in a Shang elite burial in late second millennium B.C.E.

Century

12th century BCE

Object Creation Date

12th century BCE

Accession Number

1961/2.82

Medium and Support

cast bronze with malachite patina

Primary Keywords

cooking tools and equipment

ritual

vessel

Title

Gu (libation goblet, one of a pair with 1948/1.117)

Artist

Artist Unknown, China

Physical Description

Wine drinking goblet or beaker with a wide, trumpet-shaped mouth, narrow, banded waist, and flaring foot. The slender silhouette of the vessel suggests a date towards the end of the Late Shang period. The body is decorated with Tao-tie mask design, divided by the elaborate raised flanges. An inscription is found inside the flaring foot, presumably the name of the person that the vessel is dedicated.

Century

12th-11th century BCE

Object Creation Date

circa 1300 BCE - circa 1100 BCE

Accession Number

1948/1.118

Medium and Support

cast bronze with heavy malachite patina

Primary Keywords

cups, drinking

goblet

ritual

Title

Gu (libation goblet, one of a pair with 1948/1.118)

Artist

Artist Unknown, China

Physical Description

Wine drinking goblet or beaker with a wide, trumpet-shaped mouth, narrow, banded waist, and flaring foot. The slender silhouette of the vessel suggests a date towards the end of the Late Shang period. The body is decorated with Tao-tie mask design, divided by the elaborate raised flanges. An inscription is found inside the flaring foot, presumably the name of the person that the vessel is dedicated or the clan emblem.

Century

12th-11th century BCE

Object Creation Date

circa 1300 BCE - circa 1100 BCE

Accession Number

1948/1.117

Medium and Support

cast bronze with heavy malachite patina

Primary Keywords

cup

goblet

ritual

Title

Jade cong cylinder with low relief design

Artist

Artist Unknown, China

Physical Description

jade cylinder with square shaped exterior and round interior, shallow relief carver on each side, possible representing zoomorphic designs that have been worn off. Dark jade material with many striations and mottles. Come in custom-designed silk box enclosed in a fine hardwood box. The inscription on wooden box indicates that the object was once part of the Duan Fang collection in late 19th century. Duan Fang was a Manchu stateman and reknowned antiquarian. His inscription date the object to the Zhou period. Recent archaeological work suggests that the object was probably made in the late 3rd millennium B.C.E. and remained in circulation by Shang period of the late 2nd millennium B.C.E.

Century

13th-11th century BCE

Object Creation Date

1300 BCE - 1100 BCE

Accession Number

1971/2.102

Medium and Support

dark green nephrite with white streaks

Primary Keywords

jade art objects

ritual

Title

Nail figure (nkisi nkondi)

Artist

Artist Unknown, Vili Peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Physical Description

Wood-carved, standing male figure 40 inches in height. Its shoulders and torso are impaled with iron blades, nails and fragments. The torso is long, arms at side are bent at elbow and hands rest on lower abdomen. The right wrist wears a bracelet with attachments. The legs are truncated, with twisted metal anklet on right foot. The face is naturalistic, the mouth slightly open, the nose long and narrow with slightly flared nostrils. Eyes are almost shaped, may have had inlay that is now gone. The top of the head shows a tiered, "layer cake like" coiffure. The figure has a long and deep crack down the entire length of its left side, from top of the head to the left ankle.

Century

Late 19th century

Object Creation Date

circa 1850

Accession Number

2005/1.192

Medium and Support

wood, iron nails, blades and fragments, fiber cord

Primary Keywords

blades

figure (representation)

minkisi

minkondi

nails and spikes

occult power

ritual

spirits

Title

Prayer Wheel (Mani Wheel)

Artist

Artist Unknown, Tibet

Physical Description

A 'mani' or prayer wheel, a common ritual object used in Tibetan Buddhism: a device made a handle (here a simple wooden stick) supporting a hollow cylindrical drum on a spindle. A small metal weight, attached to one one side of the drum with a cord, allows the wheel to spin with a slight rotation of the wrist. The drum in his case is of hammered metal, with incised patterns of Buddhist auspicious symbols.

Century

19th-early 20th century

Object Creation Date

mid 19th century - early 20th century

Accession Number

1983/1.423

Medium and Support

copper? and wood

Primary Keywords

buddhism

himalayan

prayers

ritual

vajrayana

Title

Prayer Wheel (Mani Wheel)

Artist

Artist Unknown, Tibet

Physical Description

An example of a 'mani' or prayer wheel, a common ritual object used in Tibetan Buddhism: a device made a handle (here a wooden stick, with simple incised line designs) supporting a hollow cylindrical drum on a spindle. Here the drum is elaboratedly decorated with rows of inset turquoise stones, as well as a row of Sanskit letters in bone. A small weight of bone attached to one one side of the drum with a metal chain, allows the wheel to spin with a slight rotation of the wrist.

Century

19th-20th century

Object Creation Date

mid 19th century - early 20th century

Accession Number

1983/1.424

Medium and Support

metal, wood, bone, and turquoise

Primary Keywords

buddhism

himalayan

prayers

ritual

vajrayana

Title

Ritual Conch with Stand

Artist

Artist Unknown, Cambodia (Khmer)

Physical Description

A ritual object for use in royal and religious cermonies, this bronze is cast by the lost wax process in the shape of a conch, with an intricately decorated surface. The tripod stand, which may not be of the same date, is has three coiling serpentine legs that end in stylized naga (serpent) heads with cobra-like fans.

Century

12th-13th century

Object Creation Date

12th century - 13th century

Accession Number

2003/1.387A&B

Medium and Support

bronze with malachite patina

Primary Keywords

musical instrument

ritual

stands, pedestal

trumpet