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.
Subject Matter
elaborately decorated bronze wine goblet used in elite feasting or offing wine at ancetral rituals in early China. Often used as part of a set of ritual vessels and placed in the burials of the Shang elite. The surface is decorated with tao-tie design, and the foot is inscribed with the clam emblem or the elite person to whom the vessel is dedicated.
Label Copy
Metalworking emerged around 2000 BCE in China, with bronze vessels appearing around 1600 to 1500 BCE in what is known as the Shang dynasty (DATES). Shang society followed the Neolithic societies of Northern China and is the first historically recorded civilization of China. Chinese writing was invented by the Shang and the short inscriptions they left on oracle bones and bronze vessels, along with extensive excavations, show a complex and highly organized society headed by a king and his family, administered by officials, and serviced by craftsmen, slaves, and prisoners of war. The dynasty occupied three capitals in Henan province, the last of which, Anyang, (ca. 1300-1050 BCE) was located south of present-day Beijing. It was in Anyang that some of the world’s greatest masterpieces of bronze art came into being.
Gu or wine containers were usually found in tombs paired with the Jue, drinking cup, indicating a close, indicating a close connection between them in Shang ritual practice. As demonstrated by this pair of tall and slender gu, late Shang bronzes have the main zoomorphic motifs of the taotie mask and kui dragons raised above the background spirals.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
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.
Subject Matter
elaborately decorated bronze wine goblet used in elite feasting or offing wine at ancetral rituals in early China. Often used as part of a set of ritual vessels and placed in the burials of the Shang elite. The surface is decorated with tao-tie design, and the foot is inscribed with the clam emblem or the elite person to whom the vessel is dedicated.
Label Copy
Metalworking emerged around 2000 BCE in China, with bronze vessels appearing around 1600 to 1500 BCE in what is known as the Shang dynasty (DATES). Shang society followed the Neolithic societies of Northern China and is the first historically recorded civilization of China. Chinese writing was invented by the Shang and the short inscriptions they left on oracle bones and bronze vessels, along with extensive excavations, show a complex and highly organized society headed by a king and his family, administered by officials, and serviced by craftsmen, slaves, and prisoners of war. The dynasty occupied three capitals in Henan province, the last of which, Anyang, (ca. 1300-1050 BCE) was located south of present-day Beijing. It was in Anyang that some of the world’s greatest masterpieces of bronze art came into being.
Gu or wine containers were usually found in tombs paired with the Jue, drinking cup, indicating a close, indicating a close connection between them in Shang ritual practice. As demonstrated by this pair of tall and slender gu, late Shang bronzes have the main zoomorphic motifs of the taotie mask and kui dragons raised above the background spirals.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
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.
Subject Matter
elaborately decorated bronze wine goblet used in elite feasting or offing wine at ancetral rituals in early China. Often used as part of a set of ritual vessels and placed in the burials of the Shang elite. The surface is decorated with tao-tie design, and the foot is inscribed with the clam emblem or the elite person to whom the vessel is dedicated.
Label Copy
The "ku" is a wine container which was paired with the "chüeh" drinking cup. It is thought that the shape was derived from the combination of two elongated containers, one resting on top of a base made from a second one turned upside down.
Metalworking emerged around 2000 BCE in China, with bronze vessels appearing around 1600 to 1500 BCE in what is known as the Shang dynasty (DATES). Shang society followed the Neolithic societies of Northern China and is the first historically recorded civilization of China. Chinese writing was invented by the Shang and the short inscriptions they left on oracle bones and bronze vessels, along with extensive excavations, show a complex and highly organized society headed by a king and his family, administered by officials, and serviced by craftsmen, slaves, and prisoners of war. The dynasty occupied three capitals in Henan province, the last of which, Anyang, (ca. 1300-1050 BCE) was located south of present-day Beijing. It was in Anyang that some of the world’s greatest masterpieces of bronze art came into being.
Gu or wine containers were usually found in tombs paired with the Jue, drinking cup, indicating a close, indicating a close connection between them in Shang ritual practice. As demonstrated by this pair of tall and slender gu, late Shang bronzes have the main zoomorphic motifs of the taotie mask and kui dragons raised above the background spirals.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
the ceremonial degger-axe replicate in jade a common bronze weapon of the Shang dynasty called ge. It has a wide blade with a sharp point at one end and a plain, rectangular tang on the other.
Subject Matter
jade ge dagger-axe or halberd used for for ceremonial display by Shang (circa 16th to 11th century B.C.) elite in Bronze Age China, often discovered as grave goods in elite burials of the Late Shang period, along with bronze halberds and other military hardware associated with chariot warfare. It was probably once hafted to a lacquered wooden handle as part of the elite paraphernalia
Label Copy
Shang lapidaries—master workers of nephrite jade and other hard stones l—inherited their craft from their Neolithic predecessors. Neolithic jades fall into two categories: ornaments used by the ruling elite such as pendants, belt hooks, and bracelets and implements for ceremonial or ritual use such as bi disc and cong tube. Shang jades fellow this basic repertoire of Neolithic forms but added decorative flourishes such as serration along the contours of objects, incised geometric designs, and, sometimes, inlaid bronze work. The two ceremonial halberds shown here, is, however, a Shang jade form without Neolithic precedent. It is based on a bronze weapon called ge developed during the Shang period. This jade form remained unchanged in style throughout much of the dynasty, due to its ritual use and the difficulty of carving hard stones.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Highly stylized depiction of dragon design with tiger head, lower right portion broken off
Subject Matter
jade pendant of zoomorphic design and classic Late Shang style. The head is depicted as a feline with open mouth. Lower right portion broken off. Relief carving in double lines on surface. Used as pendant for high elite in Shang period, generally encountered as tomb furnishing in the Central Plains of northern China
Label Copy
The heads of horses, deer, mules, and other animals which represented the status or rank of the owner often decorated knives of the nomadic tribes. Such knives were often exchanged with Chinese traders at the border in the Bronze Age.
Maribeth Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
Exhibited in "Flora and Fauna in Chinese Art," April 6, 2002 - December 1, 2002.
Jade pendants such as these were worn as ornaments by the ruling class of China’s Bronze Age as symbols of rank, wealth, and power. The pendants were sewn onto garments or headdresses through cleverly disguised small holes, as observed here in these two works. The designs of Shang and Zhou jades were inherited from the late stone-age cultures of China’s Neolithic period, and drew inspiration from forms of the animal kingdom, both real and imagined.. In the Shang and Zhou periods, the carving became flatter and the decorative repertoire expanded from birds, fish turtles and forms of a dragon to include larger animals such as rams, horses, tigers, or fantastic composites of different animals and perennially favored dragons.
Nephrite jade and other stones used by the ancient Chinese for carving were extremely hard and could not be carved or whittled away with metal tools but had to be worn down with an abrasive paste to achieve the desired shape and decoration. The ancient lapidary’s tools probably included rotating drills, polishers, and rubbers made of bamboo, wood, or slate loaded with abrasive paste. Jade ornaments were buried with their owners, along with ceremonial jade such as bi discs and cong tubes.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
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.
Subject Matter
jade ge dagger-axe for ceremonial display by Shang (circa 16th to 11th century B.C.) elite in Bronze Age China, often discovered as grave goods in elite burials of the Late Shang period, along with bronze halberds and other military hardware associated with chariot warfare. It was probably once covered in cinnabar, red mercury sulfide, as everything else in the elite burial. The jade or hardstone was probably heat treated to create the bony look.
Label Copy
Shang lapidaries—master workers of nephrite jade and other hard stones l—inherited their craft from their Neolithic predecessors. Neolithic jades fall into two categories: ornaments used by the ruling elite such as pendants, belt hooks, and bracelets and implements for ceremonial or ritual use such as bi disc and cong tube. Shang jades fellow this basic repertoire of Neolithic forms but added decorative flourishes such as serration along the contours of objects, incised geometric designs, and, sometimes, inlaid bronze work. The two ceremonial halberds shown here, is, however, a Shang jade form without Neolithic precedent. It is based on a bronze weapon called ge developed during the Shang period. This jade form remained unchanged in style throughout much of the dynasty, due to its ritual use and the difficulty of carving hard stones.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
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.
Subject Matter
known as the ding tripod for cooking and presentation of food, usually animal meat, in ancestral rituals of early China. The narrow upper register of the body of the vessel is decorated with Kui dragons, face-to-face around the top. The dragons have open mouths, long thin bodies that end in curled tails. The body of the vessel is decorated with tao-tie masks with staring eyes and above which are broad, curving horns. The nose is formed by the raised flanges that divide each mask in half. At the bottom is the open, hook-like jaws. The upper sections of the legs and the two loop handles are also decorated with zoomorphic designs of masks and dragons.
Label Copy
The "ding," an object used for offering food to ancestors and for cooking, was the most important food container among ancient Chinese ritual bronzes. The form of the square "ding" was probably derived from a wooden prototype. The "t'ao-t'ieh" mask design on this piece is the most prevalent decorational pattern found on ancient Chinese bronzes. "T'ao-t'ieh" was a mythical animal which had a head but no body. No matter how much it ate, it could never get enough. Such a mask on a food vessel might be a caution against overeating.
Metalworking emerged around 2000 BCE in China, with bronze vessels appearing around 1600 to 1500 BCE in what is known as the Shang dynasty (DATES). Shang society followed the Neolithic societies of Northern China and is the first historically recorded civilization of China. Chinese writing was invented by the Shang and the short inscriptions they left on oracle bones and bronze vessels, along with extensive excavations, show a complex and highly organized society headed by a king and his family, administered by officials, and serviced by craftsmen, slaves, and prisoners of war. The dynasty occupied three capitals in Henan province, the last of which, Anyang, (ca. 1300-1050 BCE) was located south of present-day Beijing. It was in Anyang that some of the world’s greatest masterpieces of bronze art came into being.
The ding was the most important cooking vessel in the Shang, used for offering food to ancestors and for cooking. Most ding vessels are round in form and stand on three legs. This four-legged variant with a rectangular body, known as a fang ding (square ding), is thought to have been for the exclusive use of royalty. The square form was probably derived from a wooden prototype.
The taotie mask design on the center is the most prevalent decoration found on Shang bronzes. Taotie was a mythical animal that had a head but no body. No matter how much it ate, it could never get enough. A taotie mask on a food vessel might be a caution against overeating. Above the taotie is a register of with two pairs of confronting kui dragons. These legless creatures have been identified in Shang pictograms as the form for the Chinese word long or “dragon.” The interior of this square ding has two incised characters reading “fu (father) ji (name of day),” followed by a symbol of a chariot, possibly a clan emblem.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
Inscription
Inscribed on interior side of vessel: "Father Chi," "Chariot"
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
