Ding

12th century B.C.

Shang dynasty bronze ritual vessels come in many shapes, and held offerings for the ruler’s ancestors. This round tripod is a food container known as ding. The main decoration is a mysterious, zoomorphic (animal-like) design with eyes, fangs, and horns—later called the taotie. A clan symbol is cast on the interior.

Bronze vessels are technological marvels and demonstrate the sophistication of early Chinese civilization. Their inscriptions are the earliest examples of the Chinese written language. Antiquarians of the Qing dynasty (1633–1911) studied epigraphy (ancient writing) through these inscriptions, often from ink rubbings.

Bronze

9 1/2 x 8 3/8 in. (24.1 x 21.27 cm)

Gift of Mrs. Donald E. Frederick

49.152

Photo: Susan A. Cole

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle Art Museum, Washington, Chinese Metalwork, June 12 - Nov. 27, 1988.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective, Dec. 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009.

Tokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pure Amusements: Wealth, Leisure, and Culture in Late Imperial China, Dec. 24, 2016 - May 15, 2022.

Published ReferencesChinese Art Society of America, "Archives", VI 1950, p. 70, fig. 18

"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 44 (b&w)

Lee, Sherman, "History of Far Eastern Art", 1964, p. 39, fig. 26, p. 37

Knight, Michael. "Early Chinese Metalwork in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1989, no. 5, pp. 8-10

Kawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 59

O'Riley, Michael Kampen. Art Beyond the West 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson Eduction, 2014; p. 112, reproduced fig. 4.3.

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