Lidded ritual wine cup (zhi) with geometric decoration

Object Details

• Description

  Oval vessel with a low ring foot and a domed lid surmounted by a semi-circular loop handle. The vessel is decorated with two horizontal friezes; there is a single horizontal frieze on the lid. Each of the three-tiered friezes is bordered by rows of circlets above and below. The central portion of the upper frieze on the vessel and that on the lid consists of diagonal curls around an oval eye in the center of the unit. The central portion of the frieze on the ring foot is a simplified version of the other two bands. An identical inscription is cast inside the vessel and the lid.

• Inscriptions

  Inscribed in the lid and on the bottom of the interior, Ya Mo Quan Fu Ding 亚莫犬(獏)父丁 (“Deputy Officer of the Hounds [for the Royal Hunting Grounds] at Mo (made for) Deceased Father Ding”).

• Provenance

  To 1971

  Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC [1]

  From 1971

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 6 in the object record.

  [2] Object was donated to the Freer Study Collection on June 1971, and then transferred to the Permanent Collection on August 1974. See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 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)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Wolf Ladejinsky

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Wolf Ladejinsky

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Ladejinsky, Wolf

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

  Bronze, Wine and wine making, Art, Inscriptions, Sculpture, Chinese Art, Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE), Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)