The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Wine Cups (Jue)

c. 1200 BCE

China, Shang dynasty

(c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE), Anyang phase (c. 1250–1046 BCE)
bronze
Overall: 20.3 x 19.7 cm (8 x 7 3/4 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund and Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1960.78
Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China

Description

Wine and food played a major role in ritual offerings to the ancestral spirits and the Supreme Ancestor (Shangdi) performed by the Shang rulers in the state cult of ancestor worship. A variety of wine vessels—each type given a specific name—was cast to bear witness to the power and artistic vitality of this remote civilization.

This example of a jue wine cup is for libations. Other major types of wine vessels include jia (wine warming vessel), fangyou (square wine container), and gu (beaker with a trumpeted mouth for pouring).
  • ?–1960
    (William H. Wolff [1906–1991], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1960–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review| 1960.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47, no. 10 (December 1960): 223–254. Mentioned: p. 251, no. 26; Reproduced: p. 228, no. 26 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Four Ritual Vases,” March 27, 1962, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Ho, Wai-Kam. “Shang and Chou Bronzes.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 7 (September 1964): 175–187. Mentioned and Reprodued: p. 181, fig. 5 www.jstor.org
    Barnard, Noel and Zhang Guangyu [Cheung Kwong-Yue] 張光裕. Rubbings and hand copies of bronze inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, American, and Australasian collections 中日美歐澳紐所見所拓所摹金文彙編 [Zhong Ri Ou Mei Ao Niu suo jian suo tuo suo mo Jin wen hui bian]. Taibei: Yee Wen Pub. Co., 1978. vol. 9, no. 1423
    Hayashi Minao 林已奈夫. In Shū seidōki sōran 殷周靑銅器綜覽 [Overview of Yin and Zhou bronzes]. v. 1. Tōkyō: 吉川弘文館, Shōwa 昭和 59 [1989]. 169, no. 74
    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. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 2, p. 288, figs. 3 and 4, and p. 312 www.jstor.org
  • Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994).
    1994 Cleveland Museum of Art, Asian Autumn: "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions," cat., Bull., vol. 81, no. 8 (Oct. 1994) cat. no. 7, p. 346
    Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).
    1990 Cleveland Museum of Art, Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, July 24-December 30, 1990, no. 2
    1988 Cleveland Museum of Art, Treasures for the Yellow Springs, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, February 2-June 6, 1988 (no cat.)
    Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).
    1960 Cleveland Museum of Art, Year in Review for 1960, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961, no. 26
  • {{cite web|title=Wine Cups (Jue)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1200 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.78