Sacrificial Vessel with Cover
Unknown Artist
1796–1875
Medium
Jadeite, creamy white with cloudings, veinings and streaks of bright emerald green
Dimensions
H. 6 in. (15.2 cm); W. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm); D. 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)
Classification
Jade
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902
Accession Number
02.18.720a, b
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Sacrificial Vessel with Cover*, a exquisite jadeite from China's Qing dynasty (1644–1), crafted between 1796 and1875. Standing just 6 inches tall, this slender vessel—measuring 3¼ inches wide and 1½ inches deep—was likely used in ritual offerings, embodying the reverence for jade in Chinese culture. Gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in1902 by Heber R. Bishop, it now the Asian Art department, testament to the era's masterful lapidary arts. Jadeite, prized above all other stones for its luminous translucency and symbolic purity, forms the vessel's creamy white body, dramatica...