Wine Container (Western Zhou dynasty ( 1046–771 BC ), late 11th century BC): Artwork and History

Wine Container (Western Zhou dynasty ( 1046–771 BC ), late 11th century BC) 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:

The bulging, curvilinear silhouette of this house-shaped wine container is emphasized by prominent, hooked flanges, which also accent the surface divisions created by sectional mold casting. The elements of surface decoration—high relief monster (taotie) masks, crested and plumed birds, and dragons with reverted heads are extravagantly shaped: Fringes with elaborate hooks and quills, their curves and coils extend and replicate to symmetrically fill the divided panels of the body and lid. Identical dedicatory inscriptions cast within the interior of the base and lid read: "Rong zi [Son of Rong] made [this] precious sacrificial vessel." Such inscriptions, studied as historical documents as well as calligraphic art, contribute to our understanding of the chronology and patronage of ancient Chinese bronzes.

Object facts

• Title: Wine Container
• Date: Western Zhou dynasty ( 1046–771 BC ), late 11th century BC
• Artist attribution: China
• Place of origin: China
• Medium: Bronze
• Dimensions: 32.8 × 18.4 × 14.4 cm (12 7/8 × 7 1/8 × 5 5/8 in.)
• Type: Metalwork
• Department: Arts of Asia
• Reference number: 1932.971

Collection credit

Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

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.