Ritual grain server (yu) with masks (taotie) and dragons

Historical period(s)
early Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-1200 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x Diam: 14.4 × 23.8 cm (5 11/16 × 9 3/8 in)
Geography
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1987.59
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: yu

Keywords
Anyang period (ca. 1300 - ca. 1050 BCE), China, Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE)
Provenance

To 1965
J. T. Tai & Company, INC. New York, NY [1]

1965 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased from J. T. Tai & Company on January 30, 1965 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift from Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] See invoice from J. T. Tai & Company, INC. to Arthur M. Sackler, page 4, object YT-5011, “Bronze Kuei, mask decoration, Yin-Chou,” copy in object file.

[2] See note 1.

[3] 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)

Dr. Arthur M. Sackler 1913-1987
J.T. Tai & Co. established in 1950

Inscription(s)

Inscribed on the bottom of the interior (undeciphered)

Published References
  • Dawn Ho Delbanco. Art from Ritual: Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 28, pp. 80-81.
  • et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 120, pp. 180-181.
  • 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. 96, pp. 496-501.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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