The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 14, 2024

Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)

Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)

late 900 BCE
(c. 1046–771 BCE)
bronze
Diameter: 27.7 cm (10 7/8 in.); Overall: 23 cm (9 1/16 in.)
Gift from various donors by exchange and the John L. Severance Fund 1961.203
Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China

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.
  • ?–1961
    (J. T. Tai & Co., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1961–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Ho, Wai-Kam. “Shang and Chou Bronzes.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 7 (September 1964): 175–187. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 7, pp. 182 and 187 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 245 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. 245 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 325 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 7 archive.org
  • Ancient Chinese Bronzes. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY (October 10-December 15, 1968).
    Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=Hollow-Legged Tripod (Li Ding)|url=false|author=|year=late 900 BCE|access-date=14 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.203