496

Student Exemplar
Art 101: Section 001W
3 October 2011

Review of: Davidson, 1959. “The Riddle of the Bottle Horn”

Abstract:

Throughout J. LeRoy Davidson’s article, The Riddle of the Bottle-Horn, he discusses the

different speculated representations of Chinese jade bottle horns. In this article, Davidson

reviews the theories of other scholars such as Florance Waterbury, Bernhard Karlgren, and Carl

Hentze. The similarity between the resemblance of the bottle horns shape and characteristics and

actual animals, Davidson also discusses the symbolism of these particular animals represented.

The Riddle of the Bottle-Horn

J. LeRoy Davidson begins his article regarding early Chinese ritual motives by stating,

“none has caused so much controversy or stimulated such diversified speculation as the so-called

bottle-horn.” (Davidson 15) As their name indicates, these artistically and intricately designed

and decorated “flask-shaped” bottle horns bring up much discussion amongst scholars. Many

different theories of the use of these objects have been speculated, as well as the symbolism of

the shape of these objects.

Miss Florance Waterbury formed a rather conceivable theory, which linked the bottle

horn “with the capped horns of sacrificial bulls mentioned in some of the Chinese classics.”

(Davidson 15) However, Waterbury’s theory was put down with the theory of Bernhard

Karlgren. Kargren’s argument provided evidence, such as early writings of Mao Heng, that the

Chinese tests described the capping method as one that positions a cross piece of wood which

was tied to the horns. However Hentze’s most recent summaries on this topic indicate that this
 496  

motive is a representation of a hut that was normally used for the entombment of the ancestral

corpse. Yet still other theories have been made, none that have been fully confirmed as the

“right” theory. However Davidson believes they have all inaccurately interpreted these motives

and he himself believes that they symbolize a particular animal, because of the specific horns on

the bottle horns. They speculate that the animal that is symbolized is a deer, specifically a

Muntjac deer, because of the horns.

While discussing Waterbury’s theory, Davidson cites a Chinese classic in the second

paragraph, Early Chinese Symbols and Literature: Vestiges and Speculations.” (Early Chinese

Symbols and Literature: Vestiges and Speculations 1942) This source would be of helpful use

when arguing the interpretation of the bottle horns because one must first determine the symbolic

meaning of the horns, shapes, and designs on the object. Later on, Davidson also cites Karlgren’s

article “Some Ritual Objects of Prehistoric China” when reviewing different theories (Kargren

1942). After comparing the horns with the character “tzu”, he comes to the conclusion that the

phallus, the pointed shape of the pictograph differs greatly from the shape of the bottle horn. This

is significant information when trying to interpret these objects.

Works Cited

Davidson, J. Le Roy. “The Riddle of the Bottle-Horn.” Artibus Asiae.:15-22.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249139 (accesed October, 2 2011).

“Early Chinese Symbols and Literature: Vestiges and Speculations.” no. New York

(1942): 53-54.

Karlgren,. “Some Ritual Objects of Prehistoric China”.“BMFEA. (1942): 65-69.