Mirror with stylized feline masks

Object Details

• Provenance

  From at least 1901 to at least 1926

  Qian Baoqing (active 1880s-late 1920s), Xiangyang, Hubei province, China [1]

  From at least 1938 to 1939

  C. T. Loo & Company, New York from at least November 1938 [2]

  From 1939

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on July 6, 1939 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Liu Xinyuan, Qigushi jinwen shu (Guangxu ren yin, 1902), p. 15: 7a, the mirror was in the possession of Qian Baoqing by 1901. The mirror was published by Goto Shuichi (or Morikazu) in Kanshiki kyo (Tokyo, Yuzankaku, 1926), pp. 199-200, where it was listed as still in the Qian collection.

  [2] See C. T. Loo's stockcard no. L 38/523: "Bronze mirror with inscriptions, Han," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file. In December 1938, the object was transferred to the Freer Gallery, see "List of objects owned by C. T. Loo and Company, New York…[and] left by Mr. Loo on December 10, 1938 at the Gallery for examination," copy in object file.

  [3] See C. T. Loo's invoice dated July 6, 1939, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Personal Luxuries in Early China (July 7, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Chinese Art (February 18, 1983 to April 1, 1987)

  Chinese Art (March 15, 1982 to June 15, 1982)

  Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Chinese Bronze, Jade, Metalwork (March 1, 1957 to January 1, 1963)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 14 and 15 (February 25, 1956 to March 1, 1957)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork and Painting, East Corridor (February 15, 1955 to August 26, 1955)

  Special Mirror Exhibition (November 16, 1954 to February 25, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1946 (May 7, 1946 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1944 (November 15, 1944 to May 6, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 17, 1944)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)

  Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Qian Baoqing

  C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Mirror

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  100s

• Name

  Qian, Baoqing, C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Sculpture, Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D., Chinese Art, Masks, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Mirrors