Ritual wine container (zun) in the form of an owl with dragons

Object Details

• Provenance

  ?-no later than 1900

  Wang Yirong (1845-1900), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  By at least 1933-1941

  Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (Bettie Fleischmann) (1871-1941), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  By 1958

  Tonying and Company, Inc., New York, method of acquisition unknown [3]

  By 1958-1987

  Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), purchased from Tonying & Company, Inc., New York [4]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See Robert W. Bagley, “Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections: Volume 1 of Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections” [book] (The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, and The Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University: Washington, D.C. and Cambridge, MA, 1987), cat. 72, p. 408, “This zun was once in the collection of Wang Yirong (1845-1900), who is famous as the first collector of the oracle bones found toward the end of the nineteenth century at Anyang. In a short essay on his activities as a collector, Wang mentions buying the owl during a visit to Chang’an in 1881.” Wang Yirong was an academic and administrator. He was the Director of the Chinese Imperial Academy and was the first to recognize that symbols on oracle bones were an early form of Chinese writing.

  [2] See Sueji Umehara, “Shina-Kodo Seikwa: or Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America”, [book] (Osaka: Yamanaka & Co., 1933), vol. I, fig. 41. Additionally, see “Selected Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Collections of Mrs. Christian R. Holmes” (author and publisher not identified; probably C. F. Yau of Tonying and Company, Inc., 1941-1942), pl. 2, and Florance Waterbury, “Early Chinese symbols and Literature: Vestiges and Speculations, with a Particular Reference to the Ritual Bronzes of the Shang Dynasty” [book] (New York: E. Weyhe, 1942), p. 162, pl. 55, where it is cited as being from the “Collection of the late Mrs. Christian Holmes, New York City”. Mrs. Christian R. Holmes was born Bettie Fleischmann, daughter of Charles Fleischmann, the founder of the Fleischmann yeast company. She married physician Dr. Christian R. Holmes and was an active social leader and philanthropist, as well as a collector of Chinese works of art. It is possible that this object was acquired by Tonying and Company around the time of, or following, Mrs. Holmes’ death in 1941. See note 3.

  [3] See object file for copy of Tonying & Company, Inc. invoice #133 to Arthur M. Sackler, dated November 20, 1958. The Tonying (Tongyun) Company was established in Paris in 1902 by Zhang Renjie (1877-1950), also known as Zhang Jingjiang. Zhang gained an official appointment in 1902 as an attaché of the Qing government’s Minister to France, and while in Paris he established the Tonying Company for the import and sale of works of art, tea and silk. The Tonying Company remained a family business while branching out to New York, from its original base in Paris and its source in Shanghai, where Zhang’s brother-in-law C. F. Yau was the manager.

  [4] See notes 1 and 3. See also Jean Young and China Institute in America, "Art Styles of Ancient Shang: from Private and Museum Collections. Exhibition at the China Institute in America, New York, April 5-June 11, 1967" (exhibition catalog) [New York: China Institute in America, 1967], p. 28, cat. 35. Dr. Arthur M. Sackler was a physician, medical publisher, pharmaceutical marketer, and collector of Asian art.

  [5] Pursuant to the agreement between Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

  Research updated May 9, 2023

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)

  Monsters, Myths and Minerals (September 28, 1987 to November 26, 1995)

  Treasures from the Smithsonian Institution at the Royal Scottish Museum (August 11, 1984 to November 5, 1984)

  Art from Ritual: Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (April 23 to September 6, 1983)

  Art Styles of Ancient Shang: from Private and Museum Collections (April 5 to June 11, 1967)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yirong Wang 王懿榮 (184-1900)

  Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941)

  Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Holmes, Christian R., Sackler, Arthur M., Tonying and Company, Wang, Yirong

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Sculpture, Owl, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE), Dragon, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)