Ritual basin (pan) with dragons, fish, tigers, and birds

Object Details

• Description

  The pan has a large coiled serpent with a scaled body in the interior. The head of the serpent is rendered in unusual bevelled relief, and its body is accented by a central raised ridge. The intervening areas are filled by concentric bands of spirals, volutes, and dotted circlets executed so densely and delicately that the interior has an almost frothy, lacey effect. A parade of fish, dragons, and birds, encircle the rim of the interior. The exterior of the basin as well as the foot ring are decorated with similar creatures. The pair of handles is unusual for pan of this date, and can conceivably be later additions to an originally handle-less basin.

• Provenance

  From at least 1959

  H. Okura collection. [1]

  From ?

  Bella and P.P. Chiu Collection. [2]

  To 1993

  Eskenazi Ltd., London, England. [3]

  From 1993

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Eskenazi Ltd., London, England. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Jenny So, “The Piece was in the Okura Collection in Japan and has been well published since 1959 by noted Japanese scholars like Mizuno, Umehara, Hayashi, and more recently by Jessica Rawson. Its provenance and collecting history can be traced back at least as far as the 1950’s.” See Acquisition Consideration Form, copy in object file, Collections Management Office. The first publication on this piece was published in 1959 from Mizuno Seiichi in 1959; See Bronzes and Jades of Ancient China (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai, 1959), pl. 121.

  [2] See invoice dated June 16, 1993 from Eskenazi Ltd. According to their statement, the object was part of the Bella and P.P. Chiu collection and was published in the The Bella and P.P. Chiu Collection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, cat. no. 29.

  [3] See invoice from Eskenazi Ltd., copy in object file, Collections Management Office. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

  [4] See note 3.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  H. Okura

  Bella and P. P. Chiu

  Eskenazi Ltd. (Founded 1923)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by the B.Y. Lam Foundation Fund and the 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 0s, BCE 1000s

• Name

  H. Okura, Chiu, Bella and P. P., Eskenazi Ltd.

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Western Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050 - 771 BCE), Art, Animals, Sculpture, Chinese Art, Fishes, Birds, Snakes, Dragon, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)