Ritual wine warmer (jia) with taotie and birds

Ceremonial vessel of the type “chia.” Cracked at the base of both posts. Wood stand.
Surface: dark green patina.
Decoration: in low and high relief and in the round.

Historical period(s)
Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1400-1250 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 41.8 x 21.5 x 22.3 cm (16 7/16 x 8 7/16 x 8 3/4 in)
Geography
China, Yangzi River Valley
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1907.37
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: jia

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

To 1907
Y. Fujita and Company, Japan, to 1907 [1]

From 1907 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Y. Fujita and Company, Japan in 1907 [1]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 31, pg. 21, 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)

Y. Fujita and Company (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Ceremonial vessel of the type "chia." Cracked at the base of both posts. Wood stand.
Surface: dark green patina.
Decoration: in low and high relief and in the round.

Label

Crested birds top the posts and bovine heads embellish the side handle. Two bands of decoration are composed of three taotie flanked by tiny dragons.

Published References
  • Jessica Rawson. Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. 2 Washington and Cambridge, Massachusetts. vol. 2a, p. 54, fig. 61d.
  • Sherman Lee. The Freer's Studies in Connoisseurship (Review): Museum News. vol. 44, no. 1 New York, Spring 1984. p. 68, 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. 127, p. 127.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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