Bowl with Geometric Designs
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
- 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
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.