Serving vessel with lid (dun) and dragons and ducks

Object Details

• Description

  Ellipsoid in section, and cover (one large and one small fragment missing). Two annular handles opposite on the minor axis. Three ducks and two stops on cover. Two horizontal bands of diaper pattern on vessel. Patches of azurite, malachite and cuprite patination inside and out. Li-yu type.

• Label

  The ellipsoidal food vessel stands on a small undecorated flaring foot. Only a narrow horizontal concave register at the upper edge of the rim of the bowl interrupts the full swelling contours. Two circular handles appear on opposite sides of the bowl. The low rounded lid is unadorned except for three small ducks that serve as legs when the cover is inverted and four miniature masks that overhang the lower edge of the lid to keep it in position. Enlivening the seated ducks and miniature masks is a meticulous combination of textural motifs. That naturalism contrasts with the stylized interlaced bands that appear on the bowl and circular handles.

  The Freer dun is said to have been unearthed in 1923 at Liyu in northern Shanxi Province. The precision of the bronze casting--appearing almost as though the designs were engraved--and combination of abstract and naturalistic decoration are characteristic of bronzes associated with the well-known site.

• Provenance

  1923

  Probably excavated at Li-yu in northern Shanxi, China in March 1923 [1]

  From 1923 to 1932

  Madame L. Wannieck [2]

  From 1932

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Madame L. Wannieck, of Paris in 1932 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C., exhibition cat. (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1982), pg. 32, cat. no. 4. Also see object file, undated folder sheet note 3, notes from L. Wannieck, as well as, object file, undated folder sheet note 5, Carl Bishop.

  [2] See note 1. Also see object file, undated folder sheet note 1.

  [3] See note 2. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Art and Industry: China’s Houma Foundry (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

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

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

  Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

  Chinese Art (March 9, 1981 to March 12, 1982)

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

  Chinese Bronze, Jade, Metalwork (March 1, 1957 to January 1, 1963)

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1955 (August 26, 1955 to October 25, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1946 (May 7, 1946 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1944 (November 15, 1944 to May 6, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 17, 1944)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)

  Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Madame L. Wannieck

• Origin

  Shanxi Province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• 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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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  Wannieck, L.

• Place

  China, Shanxi Province

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Sculpture, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE), Ducks, Dragon, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)

• On View

  Yes