Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
Large and majestic, this tripod gives the effect of overpowering force. Three animal masks (known as <em>taotie</em>) with coiled creatures are aligned in the decorative frieze. With the gaze of the staring eyes, the animal masks assert a religious presence and are meant to instill fear. Bold images of the ram embellish the three legs of the vessel. <br><br>Bronze cauldrons (<em>ding</em>) like this were made for offerings of food to ancestral spirits in sacrificial and funerary rites performed by the rulers or members of the aristocracy. The ding, in particular, assumed additional significance as the symbol of political power and legitimacy. As signs of status in a stratified society, such highly valued bronzes were cast by its makers with the wish to be "forever treasured for ten thousand years, by sons' sons and grandsons' grandsons."
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
162576
label
Tripod (Ding)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
162576
contentType
object
title
Tripod (Ding)
description
Large and majestic, this tripod gives the effect of overpowering force. Three animal masks (known as <em>taotie</em>) with coiled creatures are aligned in the decorative frieze. With the gaze of the staring eyes, the animal masks assert a religious presence and are meant to instill fear. Bold images of the ram embellish the three legs of the vessel. <br><br>Bronze cauldrons (<em>ding</em>) like this were made for offerings of food to ancestral spirits in sacrificial and funerary rites performed by the rulers or members of the aristocracy. The ding, in particular, assumed additional significance as the symbol of political power and legitimacy. As signs of status in a stratified society, such highly valued bronzes were cast by its makers with the wish to be "forever treasured for ten thousand years, by sons' sons and grandsons' grandsons."
date
1000s BCE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60739957
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 57.4 cm (22 5/8 in.)
cul
China, Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–771 BCE)
accession
2003.2
Source extras
tec
bronze
tombstone
Tripod (Ding) (鼎), 1000s BCE. China, Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–771 BCE). Bronze; overall: 57.4 cm (22 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2003.2
titleInOriginalLanguage
鼎
collection
China - Shang Dynasty
inscriptions
inscription_translation
Notes from Christie's catalogue, "Fine Chinese Archaic Bronzes, Ceramics and Works of Art," Friday 20 September 2002, lot 220.
"The pictograph on the inside of the vessel is cast in varying degrees of shallow depth making a full reading of the pictograph difficult. The two barely visible characters may read zi (either meaning son, or a clan sign, 子), and fu (father, 父). There may have been a third cyclical character, but if so, it is now invisible."
didYouKnow
Bronze tripods of the <em>ding</em>-type were vessels made in sets of different sizes to be used in rituals, in which grain and meat was offered to the spirits of the ancestors.
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 15
citation
von Spee, Clarissa. "Art In New Dimensions: Chinese Miniature and Small Objects at the Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Arts of Asia </em>52, no. 4 (Winter 2022): 117–121.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 118, fig. 2
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:26:33.737000
sourceId
162576
dept
Chinese Art
coll
China - Shang Dynasty
med
bronze
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
4485469c3d3bec66