Flower vase with animal-head handles

Flower vase with animal-head handles

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This lively vase features the Yuan-dynasty creative reinterpretation of archaic bronzes. Its decoration may be linked directly to the somewhat fanciful reinterpretation of an ancient bronze in a 12th century woodblock-printed catalogue. The imposing entwined dragons on the vessel’s belly as well as the wave patterns on the foot and neck are clearly derived from a Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 B.C.) ritual wine container illustrated in the Xuanhe Bogutu, a catalogue of ancient bronzes in the imperial Song dynasty collection first published in the 12th century. Not satisfied to merely copy this ancient model, the designer of this vessel was intent on creating a “new antique.” Rejecting the squat form and flaring mouth of the archaic model, the artist created an elongated and tapered neck better suited to the vessel’s function as a flower vase. Its two dragon handles are also transformed. In place of the stylized creatures on the Zhou vessel, the closest parallels to these handles are nomadic designs seen on metalwork from the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Flower vase with animal-head handlesFlower vase with animal-head handlesFlower vase with animal-head handlesFlower vase with animal-head handlesFlower vase with animal-head handles

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.