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Bowl with Geometric Designs

2nd century BCE
Not on view
Likely used for serving a liquid such as wine or soup, this bowl is painted with dramatic swirling lines interlaced with small curls and other forms. Known as cloud energy, or yunqi, this design, which was pervasive during the Western Han dynasty, is understood to represent a forbidding but numinous realm inhabited by immortals.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 西漢 黑地朱繪雲氣紋漆碗
  • Title: Bowl with Geometric Designs
  • Period: Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE)
  • Date: 2nd century BCE
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Black lacquer painted with red lacquer
  • Dimensions: H. 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm); Diam. 10 7/16 in. (26.5 cm)
  • Classification: Lacquer
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, 1994
  • Object Number: 1994.44
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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