The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 5, 2023

Wine Vessel (Hu)

壺

c. 1000–900 BC

Part of a set. See all set records

China, early Western Zhou dynasty

(c. 1046-771 BC)

Bronze

Overall: 46.1 cm (18 1/8 in.); without cover: 41.7 cm (16 7/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1944.61.a

Location

241A Arts of Ancient China

Fun Fact

The cylindrical "handles" suggest that the vessel was carried by a cord.

Description

This tall, slender bronze wine vessel, called a hu, has three bands of ornamentation: one above the foot, one around the neck, and one on the cover. Stylized birds or phoenixes are in the band around the neck, while the band on the cover and foot feature geometric dragons. The dragon and the phoenix may represent the Yin and Yang and would be equally appropriate on a bronze of either secular or religious purposes. When inverted, the cover forms a cup. It likely held liquids like wine at festive banquets or religious ceremonies.

Provenance
after 1925–by 1930
Jörg Trübner [1903–1930] acquired in China, to his brother-in-law, Edgar Worch
c. 1930–?
(Edgar Worch [1880–1972], sold to Gustave A. Voûte)
? after 1930–1944
Gustave A. Voûte [1886–1960], Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Palo Alto, CA, consigned to Sotheby's New York for sale
March 16–17, 1944
(Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, NY, March 16–17, 1944 sale, lot no. 225)
1944
(C. T. Loo 盧芹齋 [1880–1957], Paris, France, and New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1944–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Kümmel, Otto. Jörg Trübner zum Gedächtnis. Ergebnisse seiner letzten chinesischen Reisen. Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 18 and 19
Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York. Oriental Art. March 16–17, 1944. Lot 225. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 46–47, lot no. 225
Hollis, Howard. “A Chinese Bronze Vessel.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 32, no. 7 (1945): 139–140, 143. Mentioned: pp. 139–140; Reproduced: p. 143 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 802 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 246 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 246 archive.org
Chen, Mengjia 陳夢家, and Michio Matsumaru 松丸道雄. 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. Reproduced: pp. 1000, 1001, no. A694
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 326 archive.org
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1944.61.a