Slideshow: Ancient Chinese Bronzes

China, Shang dynasty, early Anyang period, ca. 1300-1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade
Purchase F1941.4

From the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age, ceremonial tools and weapons were created as symbols of power, yet their forms are based on efficient bronze objects, such as the hafted axe, dagger-axe, and chisel. Resembling a small spade, this ceremonial tool has a jade blade that is fitted into a shallow slot at the base of the bronze handle. Corrosion extending from the bronze onto the jade surface proves these two parts have been together since antiquity. The turquoise inlay is almost completely intact, another indication this ornate chisel has changed very little over several millennia.

Motifs of coiled dragons and animal masks were rendered in cast raised lines. After the bronzes were removed from their casting molds, channels between the raised lines were meticulously fitted with turquoise. This extremely rare inlay technique is associated with bronze objects belonging to monarchs of the Shang dynasty.

China, Anyang, Henan province
Late Shang dynasty, early Anyang period, ca. 1300–1200 BCE
Bronze
Purchase F1923.1

In the Bronze Age, wine made from grain was warmed and served in long-legged vessels that could be placed directly over a low fire. Elaborately decorated bronze containers were used at ritual banquets to prepare and serve wine and food to honored ancestors. Smaller vessels, called jue and jiao, held individual servings of wine, while larger jia heated greater amounts. Decorative knobs at the top of larger vessels, along with a handle, were likely employed to lift and pour the heavy, hot containers. Lidded jars kept the wine warm.

Such vessels were chiefly made for use on family altars, although many were buried in Bronze Age tombs, possibly to ensure the continuation of rites after death. Judging by objects found at burial sites, few families or clan groups possessed all of the bronze vessels required for every aspect of the ritual banquet. This forced them to simplify the ritual or to substitute vessels made from ceramics or other materials. Some bronzes were gradually amassed over generations. Common design motifs would have made vessel groups appear more visually coherent even if they were not matched sets.

Most bronze warmers from the Shang dynasty are decorated with dragons in profile and taotie, a mythical beast with symmetrically arranged features of jaw, snout, eyes, ears, and horns. The taotie motif is typically connected to two bodies shown in profile, with a coiled tail and a foot with three claws.

Faulty molding or casting occasionally resulted in containers whose walls are too thin or legs are incomplete. One of the three legs of this tall container is shorter than the others and requires a special stand to balance properly.

Real and imaginary animals are frequently integrated into the surface decoration of early Chinese bronzes. Naturalistic representations of living animals were typically produced in southern China, while in northern provinces mythical creatures were an important component of the vessel's form, as seen on these ewers (guang) for pouring grain wine.

China, Anyang, Henan province
Late Shang dynasty, early Anyang period, ca. 1300-1200 BCE
Purchase F1938.5

Fantastic combinations of animals visually unite the container and lid of this ewer. Without its lid, this early guang, created in the thirteenth century BCE, looks like a water bird. Its beaked head and long neck serve as the handle. Viewed from another angle, the bird's tail becomes the neck and chest of a tiger. Looking from the side, its wings and feet seem to join with the owl's head directly above. This surprisingly inventive combination of animal forms resulted in a unique yet functional object.

China, Yangzi River Valley, ca. 1200-1100 BCE
Bronze
Purchase F1942.1

Does the lid of this vessel show a Chinese dragon with a human face, or a person changing into a horned serpent? While it may seem cartoonish today, the haunting combination of the familiar and the supernatural might represent the mysteries of the spirit world, thus transforming a simple pear-shaped ewer (he) into an intriguing piece of sculpture.

The head connects to a reptilian body that spirals around the container to end with a pointed tail. Two clawed arms reach forward towards the spout, which is held in the mouths of smaller coiling dragons. This unique ewer was probably made in a major bronze casting center in one of China's southern provinces.

According to contemporary sources, numerous vessels were unearthed in the winter of 1929 outside the modern city of Luoyang in western Henan province. This location was highly significant during the Zhou dynasty (founded around 1050 BCE), when it served as a secondary capital called Chengzhou. From there military and government officials could monitor and supervise the Zhou empire as it expanded to the east and south.

The bronze vessels discovered at Luoyang are of great interest for their lengthy inscriptions that commemorate key administrative, military, and ritual events. Not only do they record important moments in Chinese history, but they also indicate advancements made in developing writing systems and organizing complex communities.

China, Luoyang, Henan province
Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-975 BCE
Bronze
Purchase F1950.7

Clearly visible on one of this vessel's long sides is a cast inscription that records events associated with a key figure in early Zhou history: the Grand Protector or "Taibao," Duke Shi of Shao. Since this fangding mentions the Taibao's role in creating commemorative cauldrons dedicated to Wu and Cheng, the first two Zhou kings, it was probably made during the reign of the third king, Kang. A scribe or chronicler named Da must have somehow assisted the Taibao in this or another effort. According to the inscription, he received a white horse for his service. The full text reads:

The [Grand Protector] came from casting the King Wu and King Cheng yiding. On the day jichou in the second quarter of the fourth month, the [Grand Protector] awarded Recorder Da a white horse; Da extolled august Heaven's assistant the Grand Protector's grace, and made for his deceased Grandfather Ding this treasured, sacrificial vessel. [Family/clan sign]

China, Luoyang, Henan province
Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-975 BCE
Bronze
Purchase F1933.2

The archaistic style of decoration, with the eyes, brows, horns, ears, snout, mouth, and legs of a taotie, might have been purposefully chosen to recall ancient times, but the lengthy cast inscription inside the lid was a recent innovation. The full inscription records events surrounding a royal gift of wine and cowry shells, and the last four characters name a family and clan group that apparently served as court scribes or chroniclers. Since at least three other known bronze vessels bear the same inscription, this fanghe was likely part of a set created at the same time.

China, Baoji, Shaanxi province
Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-1000 BCE
Bronze
Purchase F1930.26

Aggressive spikes and projections, with motifs in high relief, distinguish the ferocious style that appeared at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty around 1050 BCE. This distinctive regional style marks a break from the design of vessels created earlier in artistic centers to the east. Numerous vessels were reportedly unearthed between 1912 and 1918 at Baoji, in western Shaanxi province, and may have been made in a series of casting steps at a nearby foundry in northwest China.

This tall ritual wine container (you) weighs more than fifty pounds, which would have been a lavish use of metal. Birds with curving wings and long tails, heads of water buffalo, and an occasional dragon enliven its surface.

Thousands of years ago in China, these two inscribed objects belonged to the famous Duke Shi of Shao, who was also known as the Grand Protector or "Taibao." He played a pivotal role in the Zhou conquest of the Shang dynasty around 1050 BCE and is considered a "founding father" of the Zhou dynasty, which endured eight centuries until 221 BCE. The Taibao also helped to suppress a three-year rebellion that arose after King Wu, the first Zhou monarch (and the duke's half-brother), died and left an heir who was too young to rule. This bronze container and jade blade were reportedly unearthed in Shandong province in the nineteenth century, probably within the ancient territory at Shao once owned by the Taibao.

China, early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1045 BCE
Bronze
Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
F1968.29

Richly decorated bronze containers were used in ritual banquets to honor ancestors. This gui, cast with an inscription acknowledging the Taibao's role in suppressing a rebellion that threatened the very existence of the royal house, would have been a family treasure for generations.

Based on events chronicled in the inscription inside the container, this is one of the earliest dateable bronzes from the Zhou dynasty. The translated inscription reads:

The king attacked Luzi Sheng and suppressed his rebellion. The king sent down the campaign command to the Taibao who was respectful and free of error. The king immortalized the Taibao, granting him lands at Song. [The Taibao] uses this vessel to respond to the command.

China, Baoji, Shaanxi province
Middle Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 900 BCE
Bronze
Purchase F1935.21, F1935.22

Although the purpose of this pair of bronze objects is unknown, the inspiration for the form is obvious. Like real tigers, the ferocious heads have alert, menacing eyes and erect ears, as if the matching animals are ready to move. Each low-slung body is supported by powerful, sturdy legs and ends with a long, coiled tail. Dots on the face represent whisker follicles, and stripes on the middle section, lower legs, and tails resemble the unique markings of these fierce creatures. Despite having added curving fangs and intricate decorations on the shoulders and haunches, the designer was obviously familiar with the appearance of real tigers. This suggests parts of north China were warm enough to support such wildlife three thousand years ago.

When the Freer Gallery acquired this pair in 1935, an accompanying note claimed the bronze tigers had been unearthed in 1923 at Baoji in Shaanxi province, where monarchs of the Zhou dynasty had reigned for more than a century.