Object: Wine Vessel

E/1964/6/4
Hsi Tsun: Wine Vessel
China
T’ang Dynasty, A.D.618-90
Material: Bronze

This bronze vessel in the shape of a cow-like animal is a Hsi Tsun vessel of T’ang Dynasty China. This vessel may have held wine, but could have also held other offerings of food or incense because it does not have a spout for pouring and contains charred natural material. The vessel is a relatively realistic representation of a cow or donkey, but it is decorated with fanciful designs and embellishments. Some of these designs, like the depictions of animal faces and abstract swirl and floral patterns that are often found on this type of vessel, have been linked to religious or ceremonial meanings that have to do with ancestor worship.

During this time in China, Buddhism was overtaking the old traditions and ideas, but Confucianism was still popular in some areas and never lost its hold on Chinese culture. With Confucianism was the strong belief in ancestor veneration and appeal to the gods through the ancestors. Buddhism did not emphasis sacrifices and so the use of bronzes as sacrificial vessels declined during this time. Vessels during this period were used to show wealth and status and also record the deeds of the living through inscriptions, but old styles of decoration associated with Confucianistic beliefs remained present on bronzes.

During the T’ang Dynasty, this type of vessel would have been owned by a wealthy or powerful person and would have been used to serve and prepare wine or food to use in ceremonies. The charred natural fiber and blackened ash-like substance contained inside suggests that offerings were burned inside the vessel rather than consumed. Hsi Tsuns are normally ovular in shape with a broad, flat base, but can have four legs if depicting a four-legged creature. Most hsi tsuns have spouts to pour liquid from and are often are decorated with taotie or animal mask motifs, which are thought to be associated with the afterlife or spirits. They also have zoomorphic elements and were either shaped like an animal or were incised with animal depictions. The use of hsi tsuns was most active from around the late 11th century B.C., but this specimen is thought to date from A.D. 618-907. [Katrina Kassis]

For more information on Chinese art see:

A Book of Chinese Art: Four Thousand Years of Sculpture, Painting, Bronze, Jade, Lacquer, and Porcelain, by Lubor Hajek and Werner Forman.

Object: Ceremonial Wine Goblet

E/1960/3/7
Ceremonial Wine Goblet
China
1766-1122 B.C.
Material: Bronze

This is a gu or ku, a bronze ritual wine goblet from the Shang Dynasty in China from approximately 1766-1122 B.C. This type of goblet was used in ancestor worship ceremonies and rituals to hold wine as an offering to the spirits of deceased family members. During this time it was a common practice to make offerings of food, drink, and valued possessions to ones ancestors to ensure their well being in the afterlife. The Chinese believed that their ancestors had the power to influence things that happened in the living world and intercede for the living with the gods. If offerings were not made to the ancestors, they might cause misfortune to the living.

Upon the death of a king or queen huge sacrifices were made to ensure his or her happiness in the afterlife. All of the worldly possessions collected by the king or queen would be sacrificed, often buried along with the deceased or burned. Sheep, dogs, pigs, and draft animals were sacrificed. Human sacrifices were sometimes also made. The king’s wife, concubines, servants, guards and skilled crafts people could be sent into the afterlife along with the king. Bronze wine vessels were extremely important to the royalty because of their significance in the ancestor ceremonies. Bronze technology was used mainly for weapons and tools in other cultures, but in Chinese culture it was reserved for use as ritual vessels and musical instruments.

This vessel is very heavily incised with lettering common to the time period. It was common that vessels for ancestor worship were incised with the ancestor’s names and dates of life to honor them. Later, inscriptions started to tell of the feats of the deceased as well. The ku vessel was used in the late Shang Dynasty when ancestor worship sacrifices were at their height. In these ceremonies wine was drunk from these incised ritual goblets in tribute to the dead. The use of the ku vessel decreased after the invasion of the Zhou in 770 B.C. [Katrina Kassis]

For more information on Chinese bronze vessels see:

Art from ritual : ancient Chinese bronze vessels from the Arthur M. Sackler collections by Dawn Ho Delbanco.

Object: Wine Vessel

E/1965/16/5
Hsi Tsun: Wine Vessel
China
Sung Dynasty, A.D. 960-1279
Materials: Bronze

This is a Hsi Tsun vessel from the Sung Dynasty in China around A.D. 960- 1279. This wine vessel is fashioned in the shape of a cow with a small, hinged lid with a decorative knob in the center of the back that opens into a hollow compartment inside the animal. It has a spout at the animal’s mouth for pouring and is incised decorative with swirling patterns along the sides.

This type of vessel would have been used to hold offerings to ancestors to provide for them and evoke their help in interceding with the gods for a living person. They were highly revered for their craftsmanship and rarity and would have only been used for ceremonial purposes. It is possible that this vessel was made especially as a grave good for a noble and was meant to hold wine as an offering for the dead.

During this time the grip of Buddhist ideas that had spread over Chinese culture was beginning to be questioned by some people. Buddhism offered many unanswerable problems for the Chinese people and so there was a revival of the older religions. Neo-Confucianism regained power amongst the Chinese royalty. Neo-Confucianism included aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, and ancestor worship and so ritual bronzes were still being used around this time. There were different types of vessels for different offerings. Generally there were three types of offerings that would be put in a bronze vessel; food, wine, or water. This Hsi Tsun vessel most likely held wine. [Katrina Kassis]

Object: Wine Storage Vessel

E/1961/3/11
Hu: Wine Storage Vessel
China
Late Eastern Chou Dynasty, 1122-722 B.C
Material: Bronze and wood

This Chinese hu vessel is from the Late Chou or Zhou Dynasty and is a good representation of the change in use of ritual wine vessels around this time. Bronze wine vessels slowly became less important for ancestor worship and more important as symbols of wealth and status. When the Zhou took over the Shang Dynasty in 770 B.C., they instigated some changes to religion and the arts. Although large elaborate sacrifice ceremonies were still favored for the dead, there was a waning importance of making living sacrifices, including human and animal, to the ancestors. Human sacrifices were stopped and life size clay figurines were used in their place. Also, money that was buried with the dead was replaced by “spirit money,” or symbolic money.

Styles of art changed favoring abstract designs as opposed to inscriptions and zoomorphic motifs. Bronze vessels remained important, but more because of their artistic significance than their practical uses. These highly prized vessels became more akin to a European king’s crown, only belonging to the ruler and being passed down to the heir or buried as a grave good with the ruler at his death. The story behind the founding of the first dynasty in China shows how important bronzes were to the ancient Chinese. When King Yu stopped a major flood in his land in the year 2200 B.C., He separated his territory into nine provinces, each with its own ding, or bronze cauldron. When the first dynasty was conquered by the Shang Dynasty, the cauldrons came under Shang control. When the Shang Dynasty was overtaken by the Zhou, the cauldrons came under Zhou control. And so they became a symbol of control of power.

During the time period from the Xia to the Zhou Dynasties, 11th century through 221 B.C., the artistry of Chinese bronzes was especially exceptional. The use of bronze in court life increased because of its use as mirrors, musical instruments and weapons. This bronze vessel is decorated with gold and silver leaf and has a wooden lid. It is covered with fanciful decoration from top to bottom unlike ones that came before it that were more plain. Vessels like this would have inscriptions that extolled the accomplishments of the leaders that owned the vessel as opposed to listing the ancestors’ accomplishments. [Katrina Kassis]

Object: Wine Storage Vessel

E/1960/3/6
Hu: Wine Storage Vessel
China
West Chou Period, 1122-480 B.C
Material: Bronze

This vessel is called a you or hu vessel and was used as a ritual wine vessel in Dynastic China around the period of 1122-480 B.C. This and many other bronze vessels of the time were shaped like earlier ceramic Neolithic vessels that were used for every-day cooking and food storage. When bronze technology emerged, many of these forms were created in bronze as ritual vessels.

Bronze was made by combining tin and copper into an alloy, and was an extremely important metal to societies at this time. Bronze was good for making metal objects like weapons, tools and art because it was workable when hot and hard after it cooled. This technology was widespread throughout Europe and Asia around 1500 B.C., the Bronze Age. Chinese artist used simple tools but developed a method of bronze casting that allowed them to create beautiful and intricate art. This method, called the “Lost Wax” process, involved making a wax model of the object they wished to create with the decorations already incised on the surface. Then a two-layer mould was made around the wax model. This caused the decorations of the wax model to be imprinted in relief on the inside of the mould. After the mould had hardened, the wax was melted and removed leaving a hollow shape inside the cast. Molten bronze was then poured inside and allowed to cool. The mould was then broken away revealing the finished bronze object.

The you or hu vessel was one of the earlier types of bronze vessels created by Chinese artists. At this time, 771-221 B.C., the Zhou had conquered the Shang people and condemned their practice of wine drinking, calling it excessive. Fewer wine vessels were produced after this time and inscriptions in the vessels recounted the name of the maker and occasion of the making rather than deeds of the ancestors. Styles began to change under the Zhou rulers with a trend toward more abstract designs and less zoomorphic themes.

This vessel is relatively plain with only one band of decoration incised around the center. It is created in the traditional shape for hu wine vessels with two handles and a round base. The animal heads that usually adorn the top of each handle are not recognizable as animals, but are more like mythical creatures. The decorations are also more abstract. [Katrina Kassis]

For more information on Chinese bronze see:

Masterworks of the Chinese Bronze in the National Palace Museum

Object: Wine Storage Container

E/1962/5/6
Hu: Wine Storage Container (demijohn)
China
Sung Dynasty, A.D. 960 – 1279
Material: Bronze

This bronze vessel from the Sung Dynasty in China was created not as much for ritual purposes, but for practical use. During this time in China, more and more people had adopted the Buddhist traditions and bronze vessels that had before been used only to hold sacrifices in ceremonies were now being used for more routine purposes. These bronzes were still highly prized as valuable objects used by the wealthy, but within courtly society, these vessels would be utilized instead of set aside for ceremony. One use that might have been applied to this vessel was as a demijohn, or wine-fermenting container. Demijohns were used to make and store wine that was consumed on special occasions by the wealthy.

This vessel is modeled after the much more ancient hu vessels used in ancestor worship rituals in the height of the Bronze Age around the 11th century B.C. It has zoomorphic designs and a central dragon motif that reflects earlier styles, but the incised designs are more refined and realistic in style than ones that came before it. The vessel is small, only 9 ¼ in. high which suggests its more practical purpose. Ceremonial bronze vessels in the height of ancestor worship were often larger in order to be more impressive. The refinement in bronze casting technology also allowed for this vessel’s thin and delicate nature.

Though the ancient Chinese had mastered the process of the making of alcoholic beverages long before, they learned the art of winemaking when on a diplomatic mission with western countries around 138 B.C. After this introduction, the farming of grapes for wine slowly became a widespread practice. Wine became popular with the royalty and they started requiring the use of wine as sacrifices in the temples and to be consumed during ceremonies. This elevated the status of wine in the society and increased the need for production of ceremonial bronze vessels. In 1122 B.C. when the Zhou Dynasty gained control, wine drinking was looked down upon because people felt it upset the gods. The production of bronze vessels for wine storage declined after this. [Katrina Kassis]

Object: Tea Screen

AS-04-22-008
China
Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644
Materials: Jade, semi-precious stones, wood

This object is an oval shaped jade tea screen inlaid with brightly colored stones to form decorative patterns. The jade is a light green and the stones range from red, green, black, orange, pink, and purple. The design is of rocks, a tree and a bird. There is also a wooden frame that fits around the edge.

The purpose of the screen, like many jade objects, is a decorative one. Of course, the screen itself had a use; it was placed upon the table to prevent drafts to the lamp stand of the tea kettle. This is a very fine piece however, in that it was made of jade and decorated. Jade was a highly sought after material because of its status symbols, and it was also believed to bring health and good luck to the owner, so its use here might have been to cleanse the tea.

For more information on jade, read The Collector’s Book of Jade by Arthur and Grace Chu and Jade-Essence of Hills and Streams by S. Howard Hansford.

More information about Chinese tea ceremonies can be found here.

[Victoria Counts].

Object: Stone Vase

AS-04-23-061
China
Ch’ing Dynasty, 1662-1722
Materials: Agate or Jade

This beautifully carved stone vase is a somewhat large example of the art of carving jade flowers in China. It is made of a single stone varying in color from pink to amber, and the duality of the colors was captured as a light flower surrounded by darker vines. The stone was polished and shines in the light. The exact material is unknown but could also have been agate, which is a similar hard stone also used to carve decorations.

Jade has widely been a popular stone to work with in China for many hundreds of years. It was believed to be the stone from heaven because it came from high in the mountains. The typical image of jade is the deep green but it can actually come in a variety of colors such as white, blue, red, brown, yellow, grey and black. A single piece of stone may contain a range of colors. Typically a desired piece of jewelry will be one color and have no cracks or flaws, so most stones are difficult to use for this purpose. A master carver however, can use the flaws to shape a floral design by getting rid of cracks as part of the design and, even more impressive, use the color variations to enhance the life-like qualities of their design. This type of jade carving has long been popular in China and saw great advancements during the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644.

For more information, read The Collector’s Book of Jade by Arthur and Grace Chu and Jade-Essence of Hills and Streams by S. Howard Hansford [Victoria Counts].

Object: Bronze Statuette

AS-04-16-009
Bronze Statuette
China
T’ang Dynasty, 618-907 B.C.E.
Materials: Bronze, Gold leaf

This object is a bronze figure of a woman who is standing on a platform. The bronze statuette has been gilded at one time, though there is not much left on the figure today. The statuette is dressed in a robe that covers her hands, which are placed in front of her. Both humans and animals are popular forms of Chinese bronze figurines. It is believed that this figure probably represents an attendant of Kuan Yin, the goddess of Mercy in Chinese culture. It is hollow which indicates how the figure was originally constructed. There is a hole located in the front of the object which probably resulted from the casting process.

The most common way in which bronze figurines were made was through the lost wax casting technique. This process is also called the cire-perdue method. During the lost wax casting process, clay is molded around a wax model of the object to be created. Next the clay and wax object is baked, changing the clay into ceramic and melting the wax. Molten metal, in this case bronze, was then poured into the empty space left by the wax, creating a mold for the figure. The lost wax process is perfect for irregularly shaped objects such as statuettes because the flexibility of the wax allows for casting bronze objects other than bowls. One common problem that occurs with the cire-perdue process is the formation of small holes in the surface of the metal figure, resulting from bubbles in the wax.

For more information about the lost wax casting process, see Joseph Veach Noble (1975: 368-369). Also see, Langdon Warner (1937: 17-20) to learn more about bronze statuettes and Dawn Ho Delbanco (1983) to find more information on the history of Chinese bronzes and an example of a Chinese bronze catalog.

SNOMNH invites you to comment on this bronze statuette or on the use, history, or construction of Chinese bronze figures. [Heléna Cohen]

Object: Soapstone Seal

AS-04-01-053
Chinese Soapstone Seal
China
Unknown Date
Materials: Soapstone (Steatite), silk-based ink residue

A Chinese seal is a stamp containing Chinese characters used in East Asia on official documents, contracts, art and other texts where authorship is considered important. Seals were used instead of signatures because they were hard to forge and only the owner has access to their own seal. This type of seal is generally composed of steatite, commonly known as soapstone, or jade. The stamp may be carved into a raised relief known as Zhuwen creating imprints of red characters. Another option is to carve characters into a bas relief called Baiwen that stamps the background in red, creating white characters. Sometimes these two techniques are combined in a Zhubaiwen Xiangjianyin stamp.

The earliest documented use of seals in China dates to the Zhan-guo period (403-221 B.C.E.); though some speculate seals may have been used as early as 1050 B.C.E. The name, design, regulation, characters and purpose of seals changed through various dynasties.

Steatite and jade are the most common materials used for the production of seals. Steatite was preferred in some instances over jade because of its properties. Steatite is a form of mineral talc that is very soft and easy to carve. Over time, or through firing, steatite hardens, thus it becomes more durable with time and use. Cinnabar, castor oil and moxa punk are mixed with either a silk or plant base to produce ink. The result is a bright red tint in a thick paste for silk or a loose powder for plant bases.

This seal is decorated with the two Fu Dog motif. Other popular motifs include floral scenes, fish, frogs, dragons, lions, and birds, though the Fu Dog is the most popular. The Fu Dogs, or Rui Shi in Chinese (auspicious lions), are the beloved pets of Buddha and powerful mystic protectors. They are frequently presented in pairs, a male and female, and are symbolic of many of life’s dichotomies. They represent yin and yang, life and death, domesticity and bureaucracy, and fung shui and dharma. [Katie Pierce]