Collection Online as of October 2, 2023

Cylindrical Container with Cover (Lian)

100 BCE–100 CE

Part of a set. See all set records

China, Han dynasty

(202 BC-AD 220)

Gilt bronze with openwork and chased designs

Diameter: 16 cm (6 5/16 in.); Overall: 17.2 cm (6 3/4 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.44.b

Location

241B Arts of Ancient China

Description

This magnificent gilded bronze vessel with openwork decoration shows all kinds of fabulous creatures, real and imaginary, chasing each other among swirling scrolls. There is an emphasis on the unbroken rhythms of movement, rather than the ferocity of animals in combat. Cylindrical bronze vessels in this shape, called lian, were often used as cosmetic boxes.

Provenance

?–1972

(Robert H. Ellsworth, Ltd., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1972–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1972.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 60, no. 3, 1973, pp. 63–115. Mentioned: p. 115, no. 309 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 333 archive.org

Exhibition history

CMA 1973: "Year in Review 1972," Bull., LX (March 1973), p. 115, cat. #309, repr. p. 95

Dayton Art Institute, "Chinese Gold and Silver from the T'ang Dynasty from American Collections," Showings: 11/3/1984-1/6/1985, Dayton; 2/5/1985-4/21/1985, Cooper Hewitt, NY