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DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute's East Asia Program presents Sheri A. Lu
llo\, Union College.Miniature bronze boxes found in tombs dating from the
Western Zhou to the Springs and Autumns Period (9th-7th c. BCE) of China h
ave long been a focus of scholarly attention. These remarkably small objec
ts are often highly sculptural\, adorned with real or fantastical animals
in the round\, and sometimes supported by wheels or human figures. In thei
r form\, scale\, decoration\, and tomb placement\, they differ significant
ly from the standardized ritual vessels central to Zhou ancestral practice
s. \;Some have proposed that they functioned as objects of purely visu
al interest\, while others have suggested that they were used as jewelry b
oxes. The latter theory is supported by several boxes that have been found
to contain jades. Recent physico-chemical analyses of the residues within
miniature bronzes indicate that they occasionally contained cosmetic subs
tances\, further supporting their use in personal adornment and care. Nota
bly\, some of these substances were found in vessels from male tombs\, sug
gesting they may have also been gender-neutral. \;In this paper\, Lull
o revisits the fascinating corpus of miniature bronze vessels and further
pursue the theory that they were specially crafted as items that emphasize
personal adornment of the face and body as significant markers of identit
y in death. She also considers possible parallels between these early bron
ze miniature boxes and later cosmetic boxes of the Warring States (475-221
BCE) through Han (206 BC-220 CE) periods\, with special attention to form
s\, contents\, and notions of gender.Sheri A. Lullo is an associate profes
sor of Asian art history and the director of Asian Studies at Union Colleg
e in Schenectady\, New York. Her research focuses on the material culture
of personal adornment in China’s early dynasties. She has published articl
es on lacquered boxes for toiletries and on representations of clothing an
d hairstyles from the Warring States period through the Han dynasty (4th c
. BCE-3rd c CE)\, and has co-edited the volume\, The Art and Archaeology o
f Bodily Adornment \; (Routledge\, 2019). Her article on the life hist
ory of a Chinese stone lion from the collection at Union College was recen
tly published in a special issue on “orphaned objects” in the journal Asia
n Studies.
DTEND:20260123T180000Z
DTSTAMP:20260510T212650Z
DTSTART:20260123T163000Z
LOCATION:
SEQUENCE:0
SUMMARY:Zhou Dynasty Miniature Bronze Vessels
UID:RFCALITEM639140308104835885
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:The Moynihan Institute's East Asia Program
presents Sheri A. Lullo\, Union College.
Miniature bronze boxes
found in tombs dating from the Western Zhou to the Springs and Autumns Pe
riod (9th-7th c. BCE) of China have long been a focus of scholarly attenti
on. These remarkably small objects are often highly sculptural\, adorned w
ith real or fantastical animals in the round\, and sometimes supported by
wheels or human figures. In their form\, scale\, decoration\, and tomb pla
cement\, they differ significantly from the standardized ritual vessels ce
ntral to Zhou ancestral practices. \;
Some have proposed th
at they functioned as objects of purely visual interest\, while others hav
e suggested that they were used as jewelry boxes. The latter theory is sup
ported by several boxes that have been found to contain jades. Recent phys
ico-chemical analyses of the residues within miniature bronzes indicate th
at they occasionally contained cosmetic substances\, further supporting th
eir use in personal adornment and care. Notably\, some of these substances
were found in vessels from male tombs\, suggesting they may have also bee
n gender-neutral. \;
In this paper\, Lull
o revisits the fascinating corpus of miniature bronze vessels and further
pursue the theory that they were specially crafted as items that emphasize
personal adornment of the face and body as significant markers of identit
y in death. She also considers possible parallels between these early bron
ze miniature boxes and later cosmetic boxes of the Warring States (475-221
BCE) through Han (206 BC-220 CE) periods\, with special attention to form
s\, contents\, and notions of gender.
Sheri A. Lullo is an associate professor of Asian art history and the di
rector of Asian Studies at Union College in Schenectady\, New York. Her re
search focuses on the material culture of personal adornment in China’s ea
rly dynasties. She has published articles on lacquered boxes for toiletrie
s and on representations of clothing and hairstyles from the Warring State
s period through the Han dynasty (4th c. BCE-3rd c CE)\, and has co-edited
the volume\, The A
rt and Archaeology of Bodily Adornment \; (Routledge\, 2019). Her article on the life his
tory of a Chinese stone lion from the collection at Union College was rece
ntly published in a special issue on “orphaned objects” in the journal Asian Studies.