Ritual wine cup (gu)

Cup, type gu. Wooden stand.
Surface: Dense green patina over original silvery gray surface; areas of brownish incrustation.
Decoration: engraved.

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Historical period(s)
Middle Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1200-1100 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x Diam: 30.8 Ɨ 13.1 cm (12 1/8 Ɨ 5 3/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1907.34
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: gu

Keywords
Anyang period (ca. 1300 - ca. 1050 BCE), China, mask, wine
Provenance

To 1907
Unidentified owner, Japan, to 1907 [1]

From 1907 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased in Japan from an unidentified owner in 1907 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 29, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Cup, type gu. Wooden stand.
Surface: Dense green patina over original silvery gray surface; areas of brownish incrustation.
Decoration: engraved.

Inscription(s)

The inscription is on the bottom of its lower part. See Curatorial Remark number 6.

Published References
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kokogaku ronko [Studies in Chinese Archaeology]. Showa 13 Tokyo, 1938-1940. pl. 34, fig. 1.
  • Sueji Umehara. On the Shapes of the Bronze Vessels of Ancient China: An Archaeological Study. Toho Bunka Gakuin kyoto kenkyujo kenkyu hohoku, vol.15 Kyoto. pl. 7, fig. 7.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Rutherford John Gettens, James Cahill, Noel Barnard. The Freer Chinese Bronzes. Oriental Studies Series, vol. 1, no. 7 Washington. cat. 6, p. 51.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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