Square lidded ritual wine container with lid (fangyi)

Object Details

• Description

  Ceremonial vessel of the type "fang-i," with cover. Part of the foot rim missing. A tiny hole in one side.

  Carved wood stand.

  Surface: rich malachite green patina over brown. One area of blue.

  Decoration: in low and high relief and engraved. An engraved two-character inscription inside the bottom, with the same occurring in the cover in relief.

• Inscriptions

  2-character inscription.

• Provenance

  To 1915

  Tonying and Company, New York to 1915 [1]

  From 1915 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tonying and Company, New York in 1915 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 689, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. By at least 1917, Tonying and Company maintained business locations in Shanghai, Beijing, Paris, London, and New York, NY.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Tonying and Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Wine and wine making, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Inscriptions, Sculpture, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Dragon, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)