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.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Side 1 of 4
Side 2 of 4
Side 3 of 4
Side 4 of 4
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
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
[ Susan Chen & Company , Hong Kong, until 1994; sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Irving Lacquers," 1998–2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West," October 3, 2000–January 14, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer," July 18–November 14, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: Painted and Carved," 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: An Introduction," December 4, 2007–May 11, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer," August 6, 2009–February 21, 2010.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Introduction to Chinese Lacquer," December 11, 2013–July 6, 2014.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Lacquer: Treasures from the Irving Collection, 12th–18th Century," August 15, 2015–June 19, 2016.
"Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 1993–1994." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. Vol. 52, no. 2 (Fall 1994), p. 85.
Elizabeth J. Milleker, ed. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, p. 162, fig. 114.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
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.
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
