Rhyton
Artist
Chinese
DateQing Dynasty
Mediumseveral minerals
Dimensions9 × 3.4 × 5.4 cm (3 9/16 × 1 5/16 × 2 1/8 in.)
with base: 11.8 × 3.4 × 6.2 cm (4 5/8 × 1 5/16 × 2 7/16 in.)
with base: 11.8 × 3.4 × 6.2 cm (4 5/8 × 1 5/16 × 2 7/16 in.)
ClassificationsJades
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Harry W. Goddard, in memory of Harry W. Goddard
Terms
Object number1938.65
DescriptionBlack and white with two lizards crawling up the sides.Label TextRhyton Several minerals; Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), late 17th - early 18th century Bequest of Mrs. Harry W. Goddard, in memory of Harry W. Goddard, 1938.65 Playful dragons crawl on both libation cups. The large jadeite cup resembles an ancient sauceboat-shaped bronze vessel called a guang. The shape of the rhyton was inspired by Western and Central Asian cups made of horns or horn-shaped metalwork. Cups modeled after these imported works were first made in China during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). Courtiers and scholars commissioned copies of these early works during the archaistic revival of the Song dynasty (960 - 1279 CE). This Rhyton, which shows a monster head gulping the up-swung end of the "horn," interpreted as the monster's tail, emulates a Song prototype.
On View
Not on view
Chinese
18th century, Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)
Chinese
17th century, late Ming or early Qing dynasty
