Chariot shaft fitting in the form of a dragon head

Historical period(s)
Late Warring States period, Late Eastern Zhou dynasty, ca. 4th century BCE
Medium
Bronze with gilding and silvering and glass
Dimensions
H x W x D: 12.9 x 23.1 x 17 cm (5 1/16 x 9 1/8 x 6 11/16 in)
Geography
China, Henan province, Jincun
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1932.14a-c
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Tool and Equipment
Type

Chariot fitting

Keywords
China, dragon, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE)
Provenance

To 1932
C. T. Loo & Company, New York. [1]

From 1932
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company, New York. [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

C.T. Loo & Company 1914-1948

Published References
  • James J. Lally. Arts of Asia Fiftieth Anniversary Featuring Fifty Favorite Objects. Vol. 50, No. 1 Wanchai, Hong Kong, January - February 2020. pg. 80.
  • Sueji Umehara. Kanan anyo to kinson no kobo: The ancient tombs at Chin ts'un and Anyang in Honan province. vol. 47, no. 9 Tokyo. pl. 2, no. 4.
  • Zusetsu sekai bunkashi taikei [Cultural History of the World]. 27 vols., Tokyo, 1958-1961. Vol. 15: p. 141.
  • William Charles White. Tombs of Old Lo-yang: A Record of the Construction of a Group of Royal Tombs at Chin-ts'un, Honan, Probably Dating 550 B.C., 1st ed. Shanghai. pl. 3, fig. 002.
  • William Watson. The Art of Dynastic China. New York, 1981. ill. 248.
  • Benjamin Rowland, Laurence Sickman, H. G. Henderson, Robert Treat Paine, Richard Ettinghausen, Eric Schroeder. The University Prints. Oriental Art Series O 4 vols. Newton, Massachusetts, 1938-1941. Section 2: Early Chinese Art, pl. 114.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kokogaku ronko [Studies in Chinese Archaeology]. Showa 13 Tokyo, 1938-1940. pl. 85, no. 4.
  • Sueji Umehara. Rakuyo kinson kobo shuei [Objects from the Ancient Tombs at Chin Ts'un, Lo-yang]. Kyoto. pl. 51.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kodo seikwa [Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and Asia]. 3 vols., Osaka. vol. 1: pl. 51.
  • Sekai kokogaku taikei [Archaeology of the World]. 16 vols., Tokyo, 1958-1962. vol. 6 (1958): pl. 256.
  • Robert Dale Jacobsen. Inlaid Bronzes of Pre-Imperial China: A Classical Tradition and Its Later Revivals. 2 vols. Ann Arbor. pl. 421.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 13, vol. 1: p. 154.
  • Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. pp. 19.
  • Sherman Lee. A History of Far Eastern Art. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1964. p. 51, pl. 3.
  • Rene Grousset. Chinese Art and Culture. New York. p. 56.
  • Thomas Lawton. Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C. Washington, 1982-1983. cat. 25, p. 64.
  • Compiled by the staff of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes: Acquired During the Administration of John Ellerton Lodge. Oriental Studies Series, no. 3 Washington, 1946. p.86, pl. 41.
  • William Willetts. Foundations of Chinese Art from Neolithic Pottery to Modern Architecture. New York, 1965. p. 119.
  • Alfred Salmony. Der Wagenrechte Stangenabschluss an der Nordchinesischen Grenze und in China. vol. 6 Prague. pp. 131-135.
  • Gilded Metals: History, Technology and Conservation. London. p. 149, fig. 8.4.
  • Report from America. vol. 28, no. 4, Winter 1982-1983. pp. 384-386.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery welcome information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

citation | Save this image How to download an image | Terms of Use