Ritual wine cup (gu) with masks (taotie), snakes, and cicadas

Object Details

• Description

  Ceremonial vessel, type ku. Silvery gray and gray-green patina with scattered incrustations of malachite and cuprite (?) outside and in. Cast inscription of 2 characters inside the base.

• Inscriptions

  1. 2-character inscription. (From original folder sheet note 3) (Undated folder sheet note) The well cast inscription reads Chung-te, ---a name, no doubt, and characteristic in some degree, perhaps, of Shang names, since [chn] Chung-jen was the name of a Shang king, and [chn] Chung-tsung the temple-name of another.

  2. Inscribed in the foot, Dun De 盾得 (Official title composed of a shield and a hand holding a cowrie shell next to a road intersection, possibly meaning “Elite Guard, Treasury Officer”)

• Provenance

  Probably found at Anyang, Henan Province, China [1]

  To 1940

  T. Mori, Japan to 1940

  From 1940

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from T. Mori, Japan, through George Abo, Boston in 1940 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Keith Wilson's curatorial remark, dated March 2009, in database record.

  [2] Undated folder sheet note. For additional information, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

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

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

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

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Jade and Bronze (August 26, 1955 to October 25, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1955 (October 24, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

  Special Exhibition, Chinese Art (April 20, 1954 to November 16, 1954)

  Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1945 (January 9, 1945 to August 20, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1944 (December 13, 1944 to May 7, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to December 13, 1944)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  T. Mori

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Mori, T.

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)