The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Wine Vessel (Hu)

early 400s BCE

China, Warring States period

(475–221 BCE)

bronze with gold inlay

Diameter: 24.1 cm (9 1/2 in.); Diameter of mouth: 10.1 cm (4 in.); Overall: 27.6 cm (10 7/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.984

Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China

Description

By the time this wine vessel was cast, bronzes were increasingly losing their ritual significance and becoming symbols of prestige and conspicuous consumption. This globular jar (hu) reflects the splendor and luxury of the time. The jar is decorated with free-flowing scrollwork and interlaced zoomorphic motifs. Cast depressions were first made on the bronze surface and then inlaid with gold. A graceful fluidity is achieved by the many sweeping lines, curves, and tendril-like networks covering the round body.

before 1929
Acquired in China for Yamanaka & Company
by 1929
(Yamanaka & Company, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1929–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Warner, Langdon. “A Chinese Exhibition at Cleveland Museum of Art.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 56, no. 325 (April 1930): 205–211. p. 206 www.jstor.org
Hollis, Howard C. “Two Early Chinese Bronzes.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 7 (July 1930): 135–137, 130. Reproduced: p. 130 www.jstor.org
Chinese Bronzes of the Shang (1766-1122 B.C.) Through the Tʻang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906); An Exhibition Lent by American Collectors and Museums and Shown in Gallery D6 from October 19 Through November 27. New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,1938. cat. no. 187
Hollis, Howard. “Corrections in Previous Articles on Oriental Objects.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 32, no. 7 (1945): 141. Mentioned: p. 141 www.jstor.org
Bunker, Emmy Cadwalader. The Art of Eastern Chou, 772-221 B.C.: A Loan Exhibition [the China House, Nov. 13-Dec. 15, 1962]. New York, NY: Chinese Art Society of America, 1962. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 47,
Chen, Mengjia 陳夢家, and Michio Matsumaru 松丸道雄改. In Shū seidōki bunrui zuroku [殷周青銅器分類図錄 = A corpus of Chinese bronzes in American collections]. Tōkyō: Kyūko Shoin, 1977. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. A732, illus. 1047
Jenny So, "The Inlaid Bronzes of the Warring States Period," in Wen Fong ed., The Great Bronze Age of China. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980. Reproduced: fig. 98, p. 306 libmma.contentdm.oclc.org
So, Jenny F. Bronze Styles of the Eastern Zhou Period. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1982. Mentioned: pp. 6–8, 76; Reproduced: pl. 51, p. 29
Hayashi, Minao 林已奈夫. In Shū seidōki sōran 殷周靑銅器綜覽. Vol 3. 春秋戰國時代青銅器の研究 [Study of bronzes of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Warring States periods]. Tōkyō: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1989. Reproduced: vol. 3, 129
Wilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (October 1990): 286–323. Reproduced: p. 293, 313 www.jstor.org
Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).
Chinese Art of Late Eastern Chou Dynasty. Chinese Art Society of America, New York, NY (organizer) (November 13-December 11, 1962).
The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
Chinese Bronzes of the Shang (1766-1122 B.C.) Through the Tʻang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906); An Exhibition Lent by American Collectors and Museums and Shown in Gallery D6 from October 19 Through November 27. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (October 19-November 27, 1938).
Exhibition of Far Eastern Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 19, 1929-January 19, 1930).
{{cite web|title=Wine Vessel (Hu)|url=false|author=|year=early 400s BCE|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.984