Lidded ritual wine cup (zhi) with geometric decoration

Oval vessel with a low ring foot and a domed lid surmounted by a semi-circular loop handle. The vessel is decorated with two horizontal friezes; there is a single horizontal frieze on the lid. Each of the three-tiered friezes is bordered by rows of circlets above and below. The central portion of the upper frieze on the vessel and that on the lid consists of diagonal curls around an oval eye in the center of the unit. The central portion of the frieze on the ring foot is a simplified version of the other two bands. An identical inscription is cast inside the vessel and the lid.

Historical period(s)
late Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1100-1050 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 17.1 × 10.3 × 8.2 cm (6 3/4 × 4 1/16 × 3 1/4 in)
Geography
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
Gift of Wolf Ladejinsky
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1979.47a-b
On View Location
Sackler Gallery 24c: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: zhi

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

To 1971
Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC [1]

From 1971
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 6 in the object record.

[2] Object was donated to the Freer Study Collection on June 1971, and then transferred to the Permanent Collection on August 1974. See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Wolf Ladejinsky

Description

Oval vessel with a low ring foot and a domed lid surmounted by a semi-circular loop handle. The vessel is decorated with two horizontal friezes; there is a single horizontal frieze on the lid. Each of the three-tiered friezes is bordered by rows of circlets above and below. The central portion of the upper frieze on the vessel and that on the lid consists of diagonal curls around an oval eye in the center of the unit. The central portion of the frieze on the ring foot is a simplified version of the other two bands. An identical inscription is cast inside the vessel and the lid.

Inscription(s)

Inscribed in the lid and on the bottom of the interior, Ya Mo Quan Fu Ding 亚莫犬(獏)父丁 (“Deputy Officer of the Hounds [for the Royal Hunting Grounds] at Mo (made for) Deceased Father Ding”).

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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