Minneapolis Institute of Art

Ding food vessel

China

Date

3rd century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The food cauldron, known as a ding , was the most prominent type of ritual vessel during China’s Bronze Age. It was used to cook, hold, and season meat during ceremonies devoted to ancestral spirits. The vertical handles allowed the vessel to be lowered and removed from an open fire. As part of the funerary practices, such bronze ding were buried with the deceased. The number of ding constituting a set depended on the status of the tomb occupant. Rulers were supposed to be buried with nine ding . With its spherical lidded body, three small legs, and prominent handles, this ding is of a simple and elegant type that was produced during the late Warring States period (475–221 BCE) and the succeeding Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). It contrasts sharply with the more highly decorated and architectonic ding vessels made previously. Asia

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