VesselsChinese2nd-1st century BCE

Covered tripod cauldron (ding)

2nd-1st century BCE

Description

Cold-painted funerary ware simulating an inlaid bronze or lacquered vessel; bowl-shaped container supported by three cabriole legs terminating in hoof-shaped feet; two rectangular handles rising vertically from the rim; domed lid pierced with three small rectangular openings for the insertion of finial ornaments (now lost); dark gray earthenware with geometric cloud-scroll decoration painted in unfired polychrome pigments, including white, off-white, ochre, green, blue, orange, and red; interior of container and lid covered with cold-painted red pigment; remnants of small animal bones, other burial materials, and a flat bronze ring (that may have been used to anchor the now-lost ornaments from the lid) were found inside. One of a pair with 2006.170.172.A-B.

Classification

Vessels

Medium

Gray earthenware with cold painted pigments

Culture

Chinese

Period

Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE

Century

2nd-1st century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Asian Art

Dimensions

H. 22.3 x W. 29.2 x Diam. 24.3 cm (8 3/4 x 11 1/2 x 9 9/16 in.)

Provenance

[J. J. Lally & Co., New York, August 1999] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1999-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.