Minneapolis Institute of Art

You wine vessel

China

Date

11th century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bronze Age vessels were highly valued as antiquities by Chinese rulers and scholar-officials throughout history. In fact, this is one of a pair of inscribed vessels first published in the Xiqing Gujian, the 18th-century imperial catalogue of bronzes belonging to the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–95). The deer shown in the decorative bands on the neck and lid are unusual, but their inclusion here is explained in an inscription inside the vessel: In the first month of the day dingchou, the king went to Lu where he correctly performed the liao sacrifice. The king ordered Shi Tao to present the Prince of Mo with three deer. The Prince of Mo, in order to extoll the king’s grace, made this precious vessel. China, Asia

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