Page 8 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

Flower Vase
..................................................................................
Jin to Yuan 12th-14th century
dynasty,
Bronze
H. 71/4 (18.4 cm)
The
Purchase, B. D. G. Leviton Foundation 1987
Gif,
1987.112
he long neck, rounded body, and han-
dles on the sides of this vessel link it to
the hu shape first found among Shang and
Zhou ritual containers. Variations on the hu
were widely produced in ceramics during the
first to the ninth century. It was revived as a
as
metal shape part of the rediscovery and
study of early periods during the antiquarian
Song dynasty.
The front and back of this example are
divided by plain wide bands into five horizontal
sections, with additional bands running down
the sides. The top, middle, and bottom areas are
covered with cloudlike forms filled with dense
diaper patterns, and turbulent waves have been
cast into the band at the neck. Thundercloud
motifs and a loosely rendered masklike image
in slightly higher relief are cast on the fourth
section from the top. Both the thundercloud
and the mask, which is based on the traditional
taotie image, derive from the art of the Shang
and Zhou dynasties. The cresting waves, on
the other hand, derive from contemporaneous
bronze vessels cast in southern China. Rolling
waves with whitecaps became an independent
theme during the Southern Song and are
found on bronzes dating from the twelfth cen-
tury and in ceramics, particularly thirteenth-
and fourteenth-century wares from the
Jizhou kilns. The handles are shaped like
cloud scrolls, another common motif in
Chinese decorative arts.
Similar vessels have been excavated in
regions such as Chenbuzi, Siziwang Banner in
Ulanqab League, Inner Mongolia. Like ours,
they are generally less-than-elegantly cast
square shapes decorated with clear, geometric
patterns divided by wide, plain bands. These
pieces, which were first made for the use of the
Qidan rulers of the Jin dynasty, illustrate some
of the regional variations found in bronze
as
casting part of the resurgence of this art
fostered by the Southern Song court.
DPL

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