Ritual vessel (yi) with cover

Object Details

• Provenance

  Possibly Ding collection, Weixian, Shandong province, China [1]

  To 1915

  Marcel Bing (1875-1920), Paris, France [2]

  From 1915 to 1961

  Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC and Mt. Kisco, NY, purchased from Marcel Bing through C. T. Loo, Lai Yuan & Co., New York, NY in December 1915 [3]

  1959 to 1961

  Agnes E. Meyer inherited upon the death of her husband, Eugene Meyer on July 17, 1959 [4]

  From 1961

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1961 [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See C. T. Loo, Lai-Yuan & Co.'s invoice, cited in note 3.

  The invoice includes a note that the bronze came from "Collection Ting of Wei-Shien."

  [2] Bing's ownership is documented in several locations. See, for example: November 11, 1915 letter from Marcel Bing to Charles Lang Freer; letters from December 10 and 15 from Eugene Meyer to Charles Lang Freer; telegrams exchanged between Marcel Bing, Charles Lang Freer, and Eugene Meyer dating from November 15 to December 5, 1915; and February 2, 1916 letter from Charles Lang Freer to Marcel Bing. Copies of aforementioned documents in object file. See also Thomas Lawton and Linda Merrill, Freer: A Legacy of Art (Washington DC: Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1993), pp. 220-221.

  [3] Eugene Meyer, Agnes E. Meyer, and Charles Lang Freer negotiated with Marcel Bing to arrange a joint purchase of Bing's collection of 11 Chinese bronzes and 1 jade. See correspondence cited in note 2. The Meyers and Freer decided to divide the collection - Meyers acquiring 5 bronzes (including this object) and Freer acquiring 6 bronzes in addition to the jade -- and the price, calculating each party's payment was based on the appraisal values assigned to each piece. The Meyers ultimately sent the entire payment to C. T. Loo, Lai Yuan & Company (sometimes appears as Lai-Yuan), who in turn wired money to Bing. Lai Yuan & Company received a consigners fee from Bing. Meyers made the payment in early December 1915, with Freer paying the Meyers for the objects destined for his collection on December 14, 1915. All the objects included in this large sale, which were originally divided between the Meyers and Freer, are now in the museum's collection ( F1915.102; F1915.03a-b; F1915.104; F1915.105; F1915.106a-f; F1915.107; F1915.108; F1961.30a-b; F1961.32a-b; F1968.28; F1968.29). For a full explanation of the joint endeavor between the Meyers and Freer, see: Dorota Chudzicka, "'In Love at First Sight Completely, Hopelessly, and Forever with Chinese Art': The Eugene and Agnes Meyer Collection of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art" in Collections Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 2004), 334-335.

  Shortly after the acquisition, the Meyers lent the bronze to an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, see S. C. Bosch Reitz, Catalogue of an Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Sculpture, exh. cat. (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916), cat. 341 (ill.).

  [4] Eugene Meyer died in Washington D.C. on July 17, 1959. Upon his death, his wife, Agnes E. Meyer inherited the entirety of the couple's collection.

  [5] See Agnes Meyer's Deed of Gift, dated December 21, 1961, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

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

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition (September 25, 1971 to October 2, 1972)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Marcel Bing (1875-1920)

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970))

• Origin

  Xingzheng, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  Meyer, Eugene and Agnes E., Bing, Marcel

• Place

  China, Xingzheng

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Inlay (process), Animals, Sculpture, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)