Lidded ritual container (hu) with painted decoration
Terms of Use
Creative CommonsAt A Glance
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Period
206 BCE-220 CE -
Geography
China -
Material
Bronze -
Dimension
H x W: 16.8 x 13.2 cm (6 5/8 x 5 3/16 in) -
Accession Number
F1968.32a-b -
EDAN ID
edanmdm:fsg_F1968.32a-b
Object Details
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Description
Covered hu [Ch] with a low foot ring and two movable ring handles suspended from looped relief masks below the neck. The curving body narrows toward the neck and widens again at the lip which is strengthened by a simple molding. Bands of red pigment enclose a frieze of abstract decoration which is painted onto the body of the hu. Similar designs are painted on the outer surface of the cover, which has a small loop. -
Provenance
To 1916C. T. Loo, Lai-Yuan & Co., New York, to April 1, 1916 [1]From 1916 to 1968Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC, and Mt. Kisco, NY, purchased from C. T. Loo, Lai-Yuan & Co. on April 1, 1916 [2]From 1968Freer Gallery of Art, given by Agnes E. Meyer in 1968 [3]Notes:[1] See C. T. Loo, Lai-Yuan & Co.’s invoice issued to Mrs. Eugene Meyer and dated February 29, 1916, where the bronze is listed as “Round bowl with cover, painted design,” copy in object file.A stamped note on the invoice states that the payment for the bronze was received by Loo on April 1, 1916.The invoice includes three other bronzes (see records for F1968.33, F1968.34a-b, and F1968.35a-b) which with F1968.32a-b form a group probably made as a set to be used as mingqi (funerary objects).The four vessels reportedly came from Changsha, Hunan province, however, there is no certainty of their provenance, see Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat. (Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1971), pp. 28-29 (ill.) and Diane M. Nelson, “Bronze ‘Ming-ch’i’ Vessels with Painted Decoration: A Regional Study in Han Pictorialism,” Artibus Asiae 42, 2/3 (1980), pp. 147-8.[2] See C. T. Loo, Lai-Yuan & Co.’s invoice, cited in note 1.[3] See Agnes E. Meyer’s Deed of Gift, where the object is listed as no. 18 in the document’s Annex, dated July 24, 1967, copy in object file. The object was accessioned to the Freer Gallery’s collection in 1968. -
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection -
Exhibition History
Art and Industry: China’s Houma Foundry (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition (September 25, 1971 to October 2, 1972) -
Previous custodian or owner
C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970)) -
Origin
China -
Credit Line
Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer -
Type
Vessel -
On View
Freer Gallery 18: Art and Industry: China's Ancient Houma Foundry -
Restrictions and Rights
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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