Box with lid (lian)

Covered box of the type “lien,” to hold toilet articles.
Wooden stand. Fire-gilt surface, much corroded.
Lightly incised decoration on the cover. Remains of painted decoration, inside, on cover and bottom, outside, on bottom.

Historical period(s)
Han dynasty, 100 BCE-100 CE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W: 18 x 18.4 cm (7 1/16 x 7 1/4 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1923.2a-e
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Container, Metalwork
Type

Ritual vessel: lian

Keywords
China, Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE)
Provenance

To 1923
Tonying and Company, New York, to 1923 [1]

From 1923
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, New York, in 1923

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. For additional information, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Tonying and Company established 1902

Description

Covered box of the type "lien," to hold toilet articles.
Wooden stand. Fire-gilt surface, much corroded.
Lightly incised decoration on the cover. Remains of painted decoration, inside, on cover and bottom, outside, on bottom.

Published References
  • Sueji Umehara. Amerika no hakubutsukan ni okeru Shina no kobijutsu [Ancient Chinese Art in North American Museums]. no. 16/17, June 1930. pl. 5a, b.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kodo seikwa [Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and Asia]. 3 vols., Osaka. vol. 3: pl. 232.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Rutherford John Gettens, James Cahill, Noel Barnard. The Freer Chinese Bronzes. Oriental Studies Series, vol. 1, no. 7 Washington. cat. 122, p. 617.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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