Ritual Food Vessel

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A pail-shaped vessel a lid and a bail handle terminating in a dragon's head with horns. It is inscribed with two pictographs in the center of vessel and on the inside of the lid..

Culture Chinese

Title Ritual Food Vessel (You)

Date 1045–900 BCE

Medium Bronze

Dimensions Overall: 9 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (24.8 x 11.4 cm)
Overall1 (foot): 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm)

Credit Line Gift of James and Marvelle Adams in honor of William Lowe Bryan, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 60.76

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About this Work

The you is a lidded vessel used in performance of ritual feasts to honor the dead and their ancestors. Vessels such as these which would have held wine or other liquids, were buried with the deceased so that they might continue to honor their ancestors in the afterlife. The Chinese believed that the afterlife was much like the present life and one’s commitments, pleasures, and concerns didn’t end with death.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Ritual Food Vessel | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=60.76