Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)
Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)
Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)
Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)
Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)
Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)

On view

Asian Art
Huo Pavilion

Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid),

late 6th century BCE

Chinese
Eastern Zhou dynasty, 770–256 BCE | Spring and Autumn period, 770–ca. 470 BCE
y1965-24 a-b

This is a vessel, a bronze vessel, a cooking vessel. But it’s much more. It’s not a simple inanimate object. It has life: legs, arms, even eyes. It’s anthropomorphic, zoomorphic. It’s the perfect blend of seductive material, enlightened vision, and inspired execution. Usually, the most beautiful things we admire in our lives are created by nature. Everything else is secondary. But certain masters of the arts throughout the ages give us something to admire that equals forms magnificently born from millennia of natural evolution. This ding seems such a work. It contains harmony, wisdom, purpose—characteristics you may find in, say, a wasp, a crystal, or a flower. Its legs bulge in just the right way to show their support. Its gracefully curved arms reach up to be lifted. Its eyes are always calling me. My nickname for this piece while I worked at the Museum was “my pet crab.”

Rory Mahon, artist, former Princeton University Art Museum art handler

Information

Title
Ding 鼎 (Tripod cooking vessel with lid)
Dates

late 6th century BCE

Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
h. 23.0 cm., w. 27.0 cm., d. 21.0 cm. (9 1/16 x 10 5/8 x 8 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase from the C. D. Carter Collection, by subscription
Object Number
y1965-24 a-b
Place Made

Asia, China

Culture
Chinese
Period
Spring and Autumn Annals period
Type
ding, vessels for cooking food, bronzes
Subject
dragons, geometric patterns

Chester Dale Carter (1883–1962) and Dolly Carter, 1952–1965 [1]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, 1965. [1] Acquired in Japan between 1952 and 1959 while Chester Dale Carter was an employee of the Ethyl Corporation.

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The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.

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