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
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