Water Ewer (He) (Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period (480–221 B.C.), 4th century B.C.): Artwork and History

Water Ewer (He) (Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period (480–221 B.C.), 4th century B.C.) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as China.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Whereas this type of water ewer is found together with wine vessels in tombs of the Shang period, it typically appears with a shallow water basin (pan) in Zhou tombs. This change in burial context suggests a change in function—from a vessel used to dilute wine to one used to pour ablutions. In this imaginative, finely cast example, various creatures assume different parts: bird-men (or men with birdlike headdresses) form the legs; a bird's head acts as the spout; and on the lid, a small monkey grasps a chain linked to a feline animal whose broadly arched back forms the handle.

Object facts

• Title: Water Ewer (He)
• Date: Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period (480–221 B.C.), 4th century B.C.
• Artist attribution: China
• Place of origin: China
• Medium: Bronze with copper inlay
• Dimensions: 25.4 × 21 cm (10 1/8 × 8 1/4 in.); Diam.: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.)
• Type: Metalwork
• Department: Arts of Asia
• Reference number: 1930.366

Collection credit

Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection

View the original

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.