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

Object Details

• Description

  Decorations cast in high and low relief, grey-green patination with patch of azurite blue inside body and occasional specks of light green. One-character inscription cast inside foot.

• Inscriptions

  Inscribed in the foot, Xi 徒 (Undeciphered title composed of a road intersection next to striding feet)

• Provenance

  By 1896

  Possibly Wu Dacheng 吳大澂 (1835-1902), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  By 1951

  J. T. & Tai & Co., INC. New York, New York, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1951

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from J. T. & Tai & Co., New York, New York. [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See WU Dacheng 吳大澂, Kezhai ji gu lu: fu shi wen sheng gao 愙齋集古錄 : 附釋文賸稿 / 吳大澂輯 (Shanghai: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1930), vol 21, 6a. A rubbing of the

  object's inscription is included within the publication. The preface to the publication dates WU Dacheng's original text to 1896, suggesting that the vessel was in circulation before or by the time of publication.

  [2] See invoice,

  J. T. Tai & Company INC. to Freer Art Gallery, November 1, 1951, copy in object file. On the invoice, the object is identified as JTT 13 and described as " One bronze Ku (Shang Dyn.). H. 13". Weight 3-1/8 lbs."

  J. T. Tai 戴潤齋 (1911-1992) was an art dealer who was initially based in Shanghai, China. In 1949, Tai fled with his family to Hong Kong when a communist regime came to power. In 1950, he immigrated to New York, where he established J. T. Tai & Company, a gallery that opened in the fall of 1950 and specialized in the sale of Chinese arts.

  Research Completed on March 17, 2022

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

  Clay and Metal: Ancient Chinese Ceramics and Metal (February 25, 1997 to August 9, 2011)

  Ancient Chinese Bronzes (May 9, 1993 to February 10, 1997)

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

  Chinese Art (June 15, 1982 to September 24, 1982)

  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)

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

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

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

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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Wu Dacheng 吳大澂 (1835-1902)

  J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  J. T. Tai & Co., Wu, Dacheng

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Sculpture, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)