The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Wine Vessel (Jia)

Wine Vessel (Jia)

c. 1250–1046 BCE
(c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE), Anyang phase (c. 1250–1046 BCE)
bronze
Overall: 50.8 cm (20 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2005.54
Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China

Did You Know?

Ancient bronze vessels are ritual and religious in nature, linked inextricably to political legitimization, and are source materials for Chinese historiography and traditional antiquarianism.

Description

This large wine vessel (or jia) is among those very rare, monumental pieces uncovered from Anyang, the last royal capital of the Shang dynasty (c.1700–c.1100 BCE). Probably very few monumental bronze vessels were ever made; each of them must have cost a fortune and was used to designate high-ranking (often royal) status. Even fewer have survived. This wine vessel was used for the ancestral rites of the Shang. Its three splayed legs supported the cup over a fire, suggesting that the wine might be heated.

Offering wine and food to their departed ancestors was an essential ritual practice performed by the Shang royalty and aristocracy. The Shang people believed that their ancestors were able to intercede with the high god to confer fruitful harvests and victories in battles. Their ritual actions involved communication with the supernatural realm (and this was further supported by the practice of divination with the use of a tortoise shell or a cattle shoulder blade). Here, the animal mask on the bronze vessel stares frontally at the viewer and serves symbolically as a messenger of communication with the ancestors. It conjures up the potency of mystery, whereas the static monumentality of the bronze vessel lends an air of dignified solemnity to the ritual ceremony.
  • The dealer, Mr. Terasaki, first saw this piece of bronze vessel at the art shop of Mr. Shimamoto about 10 years ago. It was reported that Mr. Shimamoto got it before World War II from a famous collector who owned a soap company, Mizura Co., and the piece came to Japan as early as the Meiji period. Six years ago, Mr. Terasaki acquired it from Mrs. Shimamoto.
    Notably, this dealer, Mr. Terasaki, is a disciple of Mr. Sakamoto Goro of Hugen Do filin-a prominent Japanese collector/dealer of Chinese art, especially Chinese bronze. (The Cleveland set of ink bamboos of four seasons, Yuan dynasty Chinese paintings, was once collected by Mr. Sakamoto.) As confirmed by a curator of the Kyoto National Museum, Mr. Terasaki also supplies great works of art for the KNM.
  • {{cite web|title=Wine Vessel (Jia)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1250–1046 BCE|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.54