Western Han Cloud-Pattern
Lacquer Ding
Height:28cm
Capacity:4.3liters
Material:wood
Historical Significance
This lacquer ding is not only a practical food vessel for the Marquis of Dai's family, but also a ritual artifact that reflects the "seven dings for nobles" hierarchical system in early Western Han. It is one of the best-preserved standard lacquer dings of the Western Han Dynasty discovered so far, providing critical physical evidence for studying the evolution of funeral ritual systems and lacquer craft development in the Han Dynasty.
Content Scope
It is a rotating wooden-body lacquerware with thick, solid texture and a steady, well-proportioned shape. The lid and the main body fit tightly through a male-female interlocking mouth structure. The spherical lid is decorated with three orange ring-shaped knobs. The whole vessel is coated with vermilion lacquer inside and jet-black lacquer outside. The surface is delicately painted with S-shaped scrolling cloud patterns, vortex patterns, diamond geometric patterns and stylized bird patterns in red and gray-green lacquer, while the three beast-hoof-shaped feet are painted with vermilion beast-face patterns. Two characters "Er Dou" (2 dou, a traditional volume unit) are written in red lacquer at the bottom of the vessel.
Excavation Dates
Unearthed from Tomb No.1 (Lady Xin Zhui's tomb) at Mawangdui, Changsha in 1972, now permanently collected in Hunan Museum.