Ritual wine container (you) with masks (taotie), dragons, birds, and owls

Historical period(s)
early Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1200 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 30.1 × 13 × 12.7 cm (11 7/8 × 5 1/8 × 5 in)
Geography
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1987.23a-b
On View Location
Sackler Gallery 23b: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: you

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

Otto Burchard, (1892-1965), Berlin [1]

To 1967
Miriam Caroline Alexandrine de Rothschild (1884–1965), Berlin, Germany & Paris, France [2]

1967
Sale, London, Sotheby & Company, “Important Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Works of Art, and Fine Oriental Ceramics, including the Property of R. E. Luff, Esq., the property of Mrs. Elsa Brown, the Property of H. W. W. Hoskyns, Esq. JP, and the Property of the Late Madame Alexandrine de Rothschild (sold by order of the Executors),” May 16, 1967, lot 14, no. 30, “An important Archaic Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel and Cover (Yu)” [3]

1967
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, England, purchased at auction, “Important Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Works of Art, and Fine Oriental Ceramics …” on May 16, 1967, lot 14, no. 30, “An important Archaic Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel and Cover (Yu)” [4]

1967 to 1971
Jen Chai Art Gallery, New York, NY purchased from Sydney L. Moss on June 9, 1967 [5]

1971 to 1972
J. T. Tai & Company, INC., New York, NY purchased from Jen Chai Art Gallery on June 30, 1972 [6]

1972 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased from J. T. Tai & Company around September 14, 1972 [7]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [8]

Notes:

[1] See Chˊen Mengjia, A Corpus of Chinese Bronzes in American Collections, A 594, see object file, Collections Management Office. Ch’en Mengjia wrote this text during his lifetime (1911 – 1966), however, it was published in 1977, after he died. At the time Ch’en wrote the text, this object was in Burchard’s collection.

[2] See auction catalogue: Sotheby & Company,“Important Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Works of Art, and Fine Oriental Ceramics, including the Property of R. E. Luff, Esq., the property of Mrs. Elsa Brown, the Property of H. W. W. Hoskyns, Esq. JP, and the Property of the Late Madame Alexandrine de Rothschild (sold by order of the Executors),” London, May 16, 1967, lot 14, no. 30: “An important Archaic Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel and Cover (Yu),” see object file.

[3] See note 2.

[4] Oriental Art, Vol. XIII, no. 4 (Winter 1967), p. 313, see object file, Collections Management Office. See also: See stock record from Jen Chai Art Gallery, INC, A 483: “Important Bronze Yu with handle,” see object file.

[5] See Jen Chai Art Gallery stock record referenced in note 4. J. T. Tai (1911-1992) owned and operated both Jen Chai Art Gallery and J. T. Tai & Company.

[6] See Jen Chai Art Gallery stock record referenced in note 4. It reports that J. T. Tai & Company, INC. purchased on June 9, 1967.

[7] See Jen Chai Art Gallery stock record referenced in note 4. Stock record reports that the object was sent to Arthur M. Sackler’s Collection, Met Museum on 9/14/1972. See also inventory acknowledgement from Sackler Collection, Met Museum, 9/14/1972, accepting A 4883, copy in object file.

[8] Pursuant to the agreement between Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Jen Chai Art Gallery
Miriam Caroline Alexandrine de Rothschild 1884-1965
Dr. Otto C. Burchard 1892-1965
Sydney L. Moss Ltd. founded 1910
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler 1913-1987
J.T. Tai & Co. established in 1950

Inscription(s)

Inscribed in the foot, Ce Gao 冊吿 (“Officer of Records and Reporting”)

Published References
  • Sotheby's Advertisement. vol. 109, no. 770, May 1967. iv.
  • Grace Glueck. An Art Collector Sows Largess and Controversy. New York, June 5 1983. .
  • Chen Mengjia. A Corpus of Chinese Bronzes in American Collections. no. A 594.
  • Masterpieces in Qing Imperial Porcelain from J.T. Tai & Company. Hong Kong, October 7, 2010. fig. 4.
  • Dr. Paul Singer. Chinese Art: A Thousand Masterpieces from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Washington, 2000. cat. 47.
  • Thomas W. Lentz. The First Ten Years, the Next Ten Years: The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. vol. 43, no. 3 New York. p. 2, fig. 1.
  • Kwang-chih Chang. The 'Meaning' of Shang Bronze Art. vol. 3, no. 2, Spring 1990. cat. 2, p. 11.
  • Chinese Bronze Brings $106,400 at Sotheby's. New York, May 17, 1967. p. 44.
  • Dawn Ho Delbanco. Art from Ritual: Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 15, pp. 54-55.
  • Xi Mengcao. Haiwai guizhen teji: Zhongguo qiqi [Chinese Treasures Overseas, a special collection at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery]. no. 71, July 1991. pp. 58 -74.
  • Thomas Lawton, Thomas W. Lentz. Beyond the Legacy: Anniversary Acquisitions for the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. vol. 1 Washington, 1998. p. 68, fig. 31.
  • et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 106, pp. 162-163.
  • At the Sales, London. vol. 13, no. 4, Winter 1967. no. 6, p. 313.
  • 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. cat. 62, pp. 362-367.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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