Tripod vessel with cover

Object Details

• Description

  Annular handles suspended from protruding dragon heads. The upper end of each foot is held in the jaws of a feline head. All carved from one piece of white nephrite. Wooden stand.

• Label

  Interest in ancient history was strong in the eighteenth century in China, and many contemporary vessels were made with an archaistic flavor. The shape of this censer harks back to ancient Bronze Age vessels, specifically the ding tripod. The lionlike animal on the lid and the dragon on each handle are protective beasts. A censer like this might have belonged to the ritual paraphernalia placed in front of a grand ancestor portrait or important religious painting. Jade urns were also appreciated as art objects and the superb quality of this object suggests that it may have been a decorative item for a high level recepient, perhaps a member of the court.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Worshipping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits (June 17 to September 9, 2001)

  Ching Dynasty Paintings (June 15, 1979 to November 6, 1979)

  Bicentennial Exhibition: Chinese Art (December 5, 1975 to November 10, 1976)

  Near Eastern Art—Paintings, Pottery (August 18, 1967 to February 10, 1972)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, 1955 (September 19, 1955 to November 10, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, East Asian Ceramics and Paintings, East Corridor (January 8, 1947 to ---)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (May 6, 1946 to November 17, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics and Paintings (November 14, 1944 to May 3, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Ceramics, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 13, 1944)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• On View

  Freer Gallery 13: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1790s, 1730s

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Cats, Art, Animals, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Incense, Nephrite, Jade, Qianlong reign (1736 - 1796), Dragon

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes