Basin (jian) with narrative scenes

Ceremonial basin (“chien”). Several small holes.
Surface: mingled green, red and brownish patina.
Decoration: engraved for inlay with mouldings in low relief. Inside: low relief, mask and ring mandles.

Historical period(s)
Middle Eastern Zhou dynasty, ca. 5th century BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W: 28 x 61.4 cm (11 x 24 3/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1915.107
On View Location
Freer Gallery 18: Art and Industry: China's Ancient Houma Foundry
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: jian

Keywords
animal, bird, China, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), fish
Provenance

To 1915
Marcel Bing (1875-1920), Paris, France [1]

1915
Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC and Mt. Kisco, NY purchased on behalf of Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) from Marcel Bing through C. T. Loo of Lai Yuan &Co., New York in early December 1915 [2]

1915 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Eugene Meyer on December 14, 1915 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] Bing’s ownership is documented in several locations. See, for example: November 11, 1915 letter from Marcel Bing to Charles Lang Freer; letters from December 10 and 15 from Eugene Meyer to Charles Lang Freer; telegrams exchanged between Marcel Bing, Charles Lang Freer, and Eugene Meyer dating from November 15 to December 5, 1915; February 2, 1916 letter from Charles Lang Freer to Marcel Bing; and Freer Gallery of Art Original Bronze List S.I. 675. Copies of aforementioned documents in object file.

[2] Eugene Meyer, Agnes E. Meyer, and Charles Lang Freer negotiated with Marcel Bing to arrange a joint purchase of Bing’s collection of 11 Chinese bronzes and 1 jade. See correspondence cited in note 1. The Meyers and Freer decided to divide the collection - Meyers acquiring 5 bronzes and Freer acquiring 6 bronzes in addition to the jade – and the price, calculating each party’s payment was based on the appraisal values assigned to each piece. The Meyers ultimately sent the entire payment to C. T. Loo, Lai Yuan & Company (sometimes spelled Lai-Yuan), who in turn wired money to Bing. Meyers made the payment in early December 1915, with Freer paying the Meyers for the objects destined for his collection on December 14, 1915. See also: Freer Gallery of Art, Original Bronze List, S. I. 670; invoices from Lai Yuan & Company addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Meyer and Mr. Charles L. Freer; and Dorota Chudzicka, “’In Love at First Sight Completely, Hopelessly, and Forever with Chinse Art’: The Eugene and Agnes Meyer Collection of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art” in Collections Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 2014), p. 334-335, copies in object file. All the objects included in this large sale, which were originally divided between the Meyers and Freer, are now in the museum’s collection ( F1915.102; F1915.03a-b; F1915.104; F1915.105; F1915.106a-f; F1915.107; F1915.108; F1961.30a-b; F1961.32a-b; F1968.28; F1968.29).

[3] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 675, copy in object file. See also note 2.

[4] 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
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer (1875-1959) and (1887-1970)
Marcel Bing 1875-1920
C.T. Loo 1880-1957
Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1915-April 1921

Description

Ceremonial basin ("chien"). Several small holes.
Surface: mingled green, red and brownish patina.
Decoration: engraved for inlay with mouldings in low relief. Inside: low relief, mask and ring mandles.

Published References
  • Chung-shu Hsu. Ku tai shou lieh t'u hsiang k'ao. Academia sinica: Studies presented to Ts'ai Yuan P'ei on his 65th birthday Beijing. pt. 2, pp. 569-617, pl. 6.
  • Chung-kuo tiao su shih t'u lu. Chung-kuo mei shu shih t'u lu ts'ung shu Shanghai. vol. 1: p. 97.
  • Chugoku bijutsu [Chinese Art in Western Collections]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1972-1973. vol. 4: fig. 69.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kodo seikwa [Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and Asia]. 3 vols., Osaka. vol. 3: pl. 206.
  • Sueji Umehara. Etude des Bronzes des Royaumes Combattants. Memoire de Toho-bunka-gakuin Kyoto kenkyusho, vol. 7 Kyoto. pl. 55.
  • Osvald Siren. A History of Early Chinese Art. 4 vols., London, 1929-1930. vol. 2, pl. 43.
  • Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch Reitz. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Sculpture. Exh. cat. New York. no. 334, 335.
  • Chinese Antiquities [Shina koki zoko]. Tokyo. pl. 6, no. 2..
  • Ludwig Bachhofer. A Short History of Chinese Art. New York. pl. 83.
  • Chen Mengjia. Yin Zhou qing tong qi fen lei tu lu [Yin-Chou ch'ing t'ung ch'i fen lei t'u lu]. 2 vols., Dongjing. vol. 2: A 843.
  • Sueji Umehara. Beikoku Furiya Bijutsukan shozo no zogan shuryomon dosen [A bronze bowl with an inlaid hunting scene design at the Freer Gallery of Art]. pp. 4, 10, pls. 1-3.
  • Higuchi Takayasu. Kijin to ningen no Chugoku. Tokyo. pp. 32-33.
  • Thomas Lawton. Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C. Washington, 1982-1983. cat. 6, p. 35.
  • Jenny F. So. Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. 3 New York, 1995. p. 38, fig. 48.
  • Sherman Lee. Early Chinese Painted Shells with Hunting Scenes. vol. 11. p. 73, fig. 5.
  • W. Perceval Yetts. A datable Shang-Yin inscription, and a letter to the editor with regard to the article., 1949. p. 81.
  • Florance Waterbury. Bird-Deities in China. Supplementum 10 Ascona, Switzerland. p. 107, pl. 28 detail.
  • William Willetts. Foundations of Chinese Art from Neolithic Pottery to Modern Architecture. New York, 1965. p. 117, fig. 88.
  • Charles D. Weber. Chinese Pictorial Bronze Vessels of the Late Chou Period, Part IV (of IV). vol. 30, no. 2/3 Washington and Zurich. pp. 145-214, fig. 56, 57, 69f.
  • Mizuno Seiichi, Yukio Kobayashi. Zukai kokogaku jiten [Dictionary of Archaeology]. Tokyo. p. 197.
  • Ludwig Bachhofer. Bronze Figures of the Late Chou Period. vol. 23, no. 4 New York, December 1941. p. 323.
  • Dorota Chudzicka. In Love at First Sight Completely, Hopelessly, and Forever with Chinese Art: The Eugene and Agnes Meyer Collection of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 10, no. 3, Summer 2004. pp. 334-335.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Rutherford John Gettens, James Cahill, Noel Barnard. The Freer Chinese Bronzes. Oriental Studies Series, vol. 1, no. 7 Washington. cat. 95, p. 485.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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