Figure of an entertainer

Object Details

• Provenance

  From at least 1949 to 1951

  F. Low-Beer & Co., New York, N.Y., from at least May 9, 1949 [1]

  From 1951

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976) on June 27, 1951 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Fritz Low-Beer offered the figure to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition in his correspondence with Archibald G. Wenley, Director, Freer Gallery of Art, see F. Low-Beer to A. G. Wenley, May 9, 1949, copy in object file.

  It was presented together with the zither tuning key decorated with bear (F1951.7b) as two-part sculpture with bear and figure joined to look as if the figure was holding the bear aloft on a pole.

  The figure’s raised hand supporting the tuning key has been reshaped into a rectangular stump, presumably in the early decades of the 20th century.

  The sculpture was approved for purchase in June 1949, see document confirming the examination of the object and approval by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, the Commission of Fine Arts, and Katherine Rhoades, June 21, 1949, copy in object file.

  [2] See Fritz Low-Beer & Co.’s invoice, dated June 27, 1951, where the object is listed with F1951.7b as “Bronze statuette of man with animal, Chinese, Loyang,” copy in object file.

  The acquisition was announced in “Chinese Art Recently Acquired by American Museums,” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America VI (1952), fig. 10.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Dragon's Moan (February 6 to October 1, 2000)

  Chinese Metalwork (May 9, 1993 to March 21, 1997)

  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)

  Special Exhibition, Chinese Art (April 20, 1954 to November 16, 1954)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  Low-Beer, Fritz

• Place

  China

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Sculpture