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Cylindrical Container with Cover (Lian)
100 BC-100 AD
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
This magnificent gilded bronze vessel with openwork decoration shows all kinds of fabulous creatures, real and imaginary, chasing each other among swirling scrolls. There is an emphasis on the unbroken rhythms of movement, rather than the ferocity of animals in combat. Cylindrical bronze vessels in this shape, called <em>lian</em>, were often used as cosmetic boxes.
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Details
- Title: Cylindrical Container with Cover (Lian)
- Date Created: 100 BC-100 AD
- Physical Dimensions: Diameter: 16 cm (6 5/16 in.); Overall: 17.2 cm (6 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: (Robert H. Ellsworth, Ltd., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Metalwork
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.44
- Medium: gilt bronze with openwork and chased designs
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Han dynasty (202 BC-AD 220)
- Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Collection: China - Tang Dynasty
- Accession Number: 1972.44
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