Lid of a container (possibly a pou)

Lid of vessel. Dome shaped. Three tigers in relief seen in side view with heads rising from surface to become virtually sculpture in the round, looking towards the center. Stylized broad bands of tigers on angular meander background. Band of small circles surrounds center of lid which is restored; the original center probably had a knob raised on a stem (see F13.30). Dark shiny surface; extensively repaired.

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Historical period(s)
Shang dynasty, ca. 1200-1100 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x Diam: 7.8 Ă— 23.7 cm (3 1/16 Ă— 9 5/16 in)
Geography
China, Yangzi River valley
Credit Line
Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1974.3
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: lid, pou(?)

Keywords
China, Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE), tiger
Provenance

To 1916
Lai-Yuan & Co., New York, to March 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1970
Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC, and Mt. Kisco, NY, bought from Lai-Yuan & Co., on March 6, 1916 [2]

From 1970 to 1974
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, New York [3]

From 1974
Freer Gallery of Art, bequeathed by Agnes E. Meyer [4]

Notes:

[1] See Invoice, issued by C. T. Loo, Lai-Yuan & Co. to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Meyer, dated March 6, 1916, no. 30962: “Circular bronze cover from a Ting with 3 raised panthers amidst scrolls of thunder (Lug Wan) Seu-Ning-Koo or black quicksilver patina – Shang dynasty,” in object file.

[2] See Lai-yuan & Co.'s invoice cited in note 1.

[3] The object was part of the Estate of Agnes E. Meyer.

[4] The object was transferred to the Freer Gallery on January 9, 1973. In 1974 it was confirmed that the transfer of this object to the Freer Gallery from the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation had been approved by the foundation’s Board of Directors on December 14, 1972 and the object was accessioned into the collection.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer (1875-1959) and (1887-1970)
C.T. Loo & Company 1914-1948

Description

Lid of vessel. Dome shaped. Three tigers in relief seen in side view with heads rising from surface to become virtually sculpture in the round, looking towards the center. Stylized broad bands of tigers on angular meander background. Band of small circles surrounds center of lid which is restored; the original center probably had a knob raised on a stem (see F13.30). Dark shiny surface; extensively repaired.

Published References
  • Robert W. Bagley. Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections: Volume 1 of Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. vol. 1, Washington and Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1987. p. 123, fig. 177.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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