Food Container (Gui)
Unknown Artist
600–500 BCE
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
34.3 × 44.5 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1974.73
About this artwork
Openwork and sculptural designs elaborately transform the silhouette of this gui, a ritual food vessel with a square pedestal. The design exudes motion, exuberance, and baroque characters to a stately vessel form. Lotus-petal openwork encircles the cover, reinforcing the linear rhythms of the undulating wave patterns on the body. Two lively dragons, with eyes and mouth wide open and tongue straight out, are accompanied by two felines to form the arched handles.