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Details / Information for Wine Vessel (Jia)

Wine Vessel (Jia)

c. 1250–1046 BCE

China, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE), Anyang phase

(c. 1250–1046 BCE)
Medium
bronze
Measurements
Overall: 50.8 cm (20 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2005.54
Public Domain
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Location
241A Arts of Ancient China
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Did You Know?

Ancient bronze vessels are ritual and religious in nature, linked inextricably to political legitimization, and are source materials for Chinese historiography and traditional antiquarianism.

Description

This large wine vessel (or jia) is among those very rare, monumental pieces uncovered from Anyang, the last royal capital of the Shang dynasty (c.1700–c.1100 BCE). Probably very few monumental bronze vessels were ever made; each of them must have cost a fortune and was used to designate high-ranking (often royal) status. Even fewer have survived. This wine vessel was used for the ancestral rites of the Shang. Its three splayed legs supported the cup over a fire, suggesting that the wine might be heated.

Offering wine and food to their departed ancestors was an essential ritual practice performed by the Shang royalty and aristocracy. The Shang people believed that their ancestors were able to intercede with the high god to confer fruitful harvests and victories in battles. Their ritual actions involved communication with the supernatural realm (and this was further supported by the practice of divination with the use of a tortoise shell or a cattle shoulder blade). Here, the animal mask on the bronze vessel stares frontally at the viewer and serves symbolically as a messenger of communication with the ancestors. It conjures up the potency of mystery, whereas the static monumentality of the bronze vessel lends an air of dignified solemnity to the ritual ceremony.
Weathered with a dark green and brown patina, this bronze vessel stands on three tapered legs. The cylindrical body flares at the rim, topped by two square posts with conical caps. Intricate relief patterns of animal masks and geometric motifs cover the surface, divided by vertical ridges. A handle on one side is topped by a stylized animal head. The surface is detailed with precise, curving lines, geometric spirals, and stylized eyes.

Wine Vessel (Jia)

c. 1250–1046 BCE

China, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE), Anyang phase (c. 1250–1046 BCE)

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