Fitting in the form of a quadruped with interlace

Object Details

• Description

  A quadruped; surface almost entirely covered with linear designs in countersunk relief. Smooth, gray-green patina with scattered encrustations of green. Bronze cracked on back, left side and belly; forelegs repaired.

• Provenance

  Excavated at Li-yü, Shanxi province, China, possibly in 1923 [1]

  From 1947 to 1948

  C. T. Loo & Company, New York, from August 1947 [2]

  From 1948

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on December 2, 1948 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] The animal might be identical with one of the two animals published by Georges Salles in 1934, see Georges Salles, "Les bronzes de Li-Yu," Revue des Arts Asiatiques vol. 8 (1934), pp. 156-7, pl. 50a.

  Salles described the two animals as at the time still held in Shanxi.

  See also Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B. C. (Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, 1982), pp. 78-79, no. 35.

  [2] See C. T. Loo's stockcard no. CHL 7/936: "Small bronze animal perfect green patina Late Chou "li Yu," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file. According to an annotation on the stockcard, the object was imported directly from China. On January 20, 1948, the object was taken by Loo to the Freer Gallery for examination.

  [3] See C. T. Loo's invoice, dated December 2, 1948, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Art and Industry: China’s Houma Foundry (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  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 Art, 1955 (August 26, 1955 to October 25, 1955)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

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

• Origin

  Liyu, Probably Shanxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Unclassified

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  Shanxi province, China, Liyu

• Topic

  Art, Animals, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Unclassified