Artwork Page for Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)

Details / Information for Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)

Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)

late 900 BCE

China, Shaanxi province, Xi'an, Western Zhou dynasty

(c. 1046–771 BCE)
Medium
bronze
Measurements
Diameter: 27.7 cm (10 7/8 in.); Overall: 23 cm (9 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift from various donors by exchange and the John L. Severance Fund 1961.203
Public Domain
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Location
241A Arts of Ancient China
Print

Description

This food vessel exhibits a new decorative trend of metropolitan Western Zhou foundries. Zoomorphic images became increasingly abstract and subject to linear elaboration. The dominating animal mask (taotie) of the Shang is here transformed, dissolved, and dissected into intricate patterns of curving bands and median grooves. The design is abstract but not devoid of symbolic contents and functions. A smooth and even gray-green patina--the result of natural corrosion during burial--covers the outside and creates a new visual impact on the surface decoration.

Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)

late 900 BCE

China, Shaanxi province, Xi'an, Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–771 BCE)

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