Ritual wine warmer (fangjia) with masks (taotie), dragons, birds, and cicadas

Ceremonial vessel with cover: type jia. Surface: smooth green patina. Decoration: in high relief, low relief, and incised.

Historical period(s)
middle Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1150 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 40.6 × 25.4 × 24 cm (16 × 10 × 9 7/16 in)
Geography
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1935.12a-b
On View Location
Sackler Gallery 23b: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Vessel
Type

Ritual vessel: fangjia

Keywords
Anyang period (ca. 1300 - ca. 1050 BCE), China, dragon, mask, taotie, wine
Provenance

From at least 1935
C. T. Loo & Company, New York from at least January 5, 1935 [1]

From 1935
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company, New York on March 13, 1935 [2]

Notes:

[1] See Approval Memo with annotation: "Brought in by C. T. Loo's nephew," dated January 5, 1935, in object file. The object is described as discovered at Zhangde Fu in Henan province.

[2] See C. T. Loo's invoice dated March 13, 1935, copy in object file.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

C.T. Loo & Company 1914-1948

Description

Ceremonial vessel with cover: type jia. Surface: smooth green patina. Decoration: in high relief, low relief, and incised.

Inscription(s)

Inscribed on interior, Xiang Gu 鄉賈 (“Conductor of Trade”)

Label

Taotie appear on the body, posts, and lid of this fangjia. Cicadas decorate the neck, and pairs of dragons form the legs.

Published References
  • Benjamin Rowland, Laurence Sickman, H. G. Henderson, Robert Treat Paine, Richard Ettinghausen, Eric Schroeder. The University Prints. Oriental Art Series O 4 vols. Newton, Massachusetts, 1938-1941. Section 2: Early Chinese Art, pl. 90.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kokogaku ronko [Studies in Chinese Archaeology]. Showa 13 Tokyo, 1938-1940. pl. 80.
  • Sueji Umehara. On the Shapes of the Bronze Vessels of Ancient China: An Archaeological Study. Toho Bunka Gakuin kyoto kenkyujo kenkyu hohoku, vol.15 Kyoto. pl. 27, fig. 4.
  • Smithsonian Institution. Report of the Secretary, 1935. Washington, 1935-1936. pl. 2.
  • Shang Chou chin wen shi ch'eng. Multi-volume, Taipei. cat. 4660.
  • New Orient Society of America. Oriental Art in America: Recent Accessions in American Museums. Chicago. pl. 7.
  • Mizuno Seiichi. In Shu seidoki to tama [Bronzes and Jades of Ancient China]. Tokyo. pl. 34.
  • Keng Jung, Chang Wei. Yin Chou ch'ing t'ung ch'i t'ung lun [A Survey of Shang-Chou Bronzes]. Peking. cat. 114.
  • Carl Hentze. Bronzegerat, Kultbauten: Religion im ältesten China der Shang-Zeit. 2 vols., Antwerp. pl. 36.
  • Chin wen tsung chi. Taipei. vol. 6: p. 2393.
  • Chen Mengjia. Yin Zhou qing tong qi fen lei tu lu [Yin-Chou ch'ing t'ung ch'i fen lei t'u lu]. 2 vols., Dongjing. vol. 2: A 315.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Rutherford John Gettens, James Cahill, Noel Barnard. The Freer Chinese Bronzes. Oriental Studies Series, vol. 1, no. 7 Washington. cat. 22, pp. iv, 133.
  • Grace Dunham Guest, Archibald Gibson Wenley. Annotated Outlines of the History of Chinese Arts. Washington, 1949. p. 2.
  • Compiled by the staff of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes: Acquired During the Administration of John Ellerton Lodge. Oriental Studies Series, no. 3 Washington, 1946. pp. 6, 22, pls. 1-2.
  • Liu Wang-hang. Chiu yu ch'ing t'ung chiu ch'i. no. 22 Taipei. p. 7.
  • Keng Jung. Shan chai i ch'i t'u lu [Illustrated Catalogue of Bronzes in the Collection of Liu T'i-chih]. Chinese texts and studies 3 vols., Peking. p. 27b, pl. 101a, b.
  • unknown title. vol. 1, no. 11 Amsterdam. p. 28.
  • Sherman Lee. A History of Far Eastern Art. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1964. p. 40, fig. 28.
  • Sueji Umehara. Selected Ancient Treasures Found at An-yang, Yin sites, Kanan Anyo iho. Kyoto. p. 51, pl. 47.
  • Studies of the Bronze Chia-Vessel Excavated from Hsiao Tu'n & Hou Chia Chuang: Its Casting Process and Decorative Patterns. Archaeologia Sinica. New series, no. 3 Nanking, Taiwan. p. 57, pl. 2.
  • Sueji Umehara. Kanan An'yo no shutsudo to suiteiserareru niko no son'i: A Chinese Wine-Vase and Wine-Cup presumed to come from An-yang, Ho-nan Province. vol. 551, October 1936. pp. 300-306, 310.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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