Basin (jian) with dragon interlace

1.  Bought from C. T. Loo & Co., New York.  For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2.  (J. E. L., 1939) In the Shou wen (sub verbo), [Chn] chien is defined as [Chn] ta p'en "a large basin."  In the Chou li [Chn],[Chn]; (and Biot, I, pg. 1060. a chien, - evidently a vessel of some sort, - is said to have been used, on occassion, to hold food, wine or ice.  Both the Shou wen and the Chou li [Chn],[Chn]; (and Biot, II, p. 381) refer also to a kind of chien which was used to "receive bright water from the moon;" but whether the "bright water" was dew or moonlight, and whether the cien which caught it was a vessel or a mirror, is by no means certain.  More specifically, the Commentary on the Chou li ([Chn]) likens the chien which was used for ice to a (pottery) jar ([Chn] chui) with a wide mouth.  On the other hand, many compilers of Chinese catalogues of bronzes have been so indiscriminate in using the terms chien, p'en, [Chn] ang, [Chn] yu, and [Chn] hsi to designate a variety of basin-like forms, that it is now hardly possible to determine from the shape of the vessel, which of the above terms is properly applicable to it.  Fortunately, however, there is no uncertainty in the present case, since the inscription reads: [Chn] "Chien made by the Noble Chih." This vessel, then, is definitely a chien, and a belief that it was used for a ceremonial purpose such, e.g., as the Chou li [Chn] described, is supported by the character, -- possibly by the mere existence, -- of the inscription.  To me, indeed, it seems probable that knowledge of whether a vessel should be called a chien, a p'en, an ang, a yu or hsi may well depend upon knowlegde of the purpose for which it was intended, and that whereas the term chien may been correctly applicable only to a ceremonial vessel, and hsi only to a a vessel for washing or bathing, - whether ceremonial or not, - the terms p'en, ang, and perhaps, yu were, on the other hand, far more general in the proper application, - like our words for "basin" or "bowl."  At present, in any case, the nomenclature of these various basin-like vessels is by no means well defined.
     On the whole it seems reasonable to associate the "Noble Chih" of the inscription with the Chih family of the State of [Chn] Chin.  This family and the families of [Chn] Chao, [Chn] Han, [Chn] Wei, [Chn] Fan and [Chn] Chung-hang were the most powerful groups in the State, and their several leaders were known collectively as the [Chn] "six high dignitaries."  Emboldened by the growing weakness of the Ducal House, these great familied were constantly fighting one another for position and influence.  Thus in 496 B.C. (see Chavannes, Memoires Historiques, Vol. II, pg. 51-53) the Chih and the Chao (or the Chih, the Han and the Wei, according to Tso Chuan, 13th year of Duke [Chn] Ting) drove the Fan and the Chung-hang from the State.  Again, in 453, the Chih, having meanwhile become supremely powerful, were set upon by the Han, the Wei and the Chao who killed [Chn] Chih Po, the able leader of his family, divided his territory among themselves and forced his son [Chn] Chih K'ai to take refuge in the neighboring State of [Chn] Ch'in (see, e.g., Chavannes, op. cit., Vol. IV, pg. 139, and Vol. II, pg. 55). If, therefore, the Chih of this inscription was indeed one of the Chih family of Chin, his chien can hardly have been made later than 453 B.C., and is likely to have been excavated at Shansi.
     When this vessel was bought, its made, similarly inscribed, was left in the hands of the dealer.

3. (J. A. P., 1946)  The mate to this vessel, mentioned in paragraph 2, is now in the collection of Mr. Alfred F. Pillsbury of Minneapolis.  Jung Keng (Shan Chou i ch'i t'ung k'ao, the bronzes of Shang and Chou, Peiping, 1941, Vol. I p. 470; Vol. II, pg. 460, fig. 874) says the two vessels were excavated in 1938 at [Chn] Hui Hsien (about 50 miles south of [Chn] in Honan Province. 

4. (Thomas Lawton, 1976)  From middle 5th century B.C., Chou dynasty (late), to Middle-late Eastern Chou, 1st half of 5th century B.C., Li-yu type.

5.  (T. Lawton, 1982 - from Exhibition catalogue).  This large chien, or basin, rises from a ring foot, swelling outward and then inward to form a wide concave band before meeting the flat, everted lip.  Four handles topped by t'ao-t'ieh, or monster masks, are evenly placed around the quadrants of the ritual vessel; loose flattened rings with intaglio decoration depend from the two of the handles.  The surface of the basin in separated into three principal registers, each decorated with highlly stylized interlocking dragon forms depicted in narrow bands covered with fine spirals and triangles in intaglio.  At regular intervals in the widest central register appear t'ao-t'ieh, which are alternately upright and inverted.  Plaited rope bands in relief separate the decorative registers; a third such band surrounds the foot.  Around the outer edge of the lip is a band of cowries.
     The Freer chien forms an identical pair with an example in Minneapolis Art Institute.  According to Junk Keng, the Freer and Minneapolis chien were unearthed in 1938 in Hui Hsien, Honan Province.  The provenance is supported by archaeological finds in a number of tombs, located at Fen-shui-ling, north of Ch'ang-chih, Shansi Province, evidently the burial place of grandees of the state of Chin.  The bronze chien with decor virtually identical to that on the Freer and Minneapolis chien were unearthed in 1973 at Hui Hsien, Honan Province.  The Hui Hsient chien have only two handles; the Freer and Minneapolis pieces have four.
     Engraved inside the Freer and Minneapolis chien are identical six-character inscriptions in elegant and elongated script.  "The esteemed chien of the noble of Chih."  The surname Chih was that of one of the most powerful families of the state of Chin.  The authority and position of the Chih family came to an end when Chih Po, the head of the clan, was assassinated in 453 B.C.  The nobleman mentioned in the inscriptions found on bronze vessels of such unusual size and quality was certainly a member of the influential Chih family, and so 453 B.C. provides a terminus ante quem for dating the Freer and Minneapolis chien. 
     Added Late Spring and Autumn - Early Warring States periods.

6. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 7/1/2008) Vessel added as secondary classification

7. (D. Chudicka per Keith Wilson, 2/23/09) Geography changed from Shanxi province to Huixian, Henan province.

8. (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, 7 July 2010) Title changed from "Ritual water basin (jian)" to "Basin (jian) with dragon interlace"; Object name changed from "Ritual water basin (jian)" to "Ritual vessel"; period changed from "Mid-late Eastern Zhou dynasty" to " Middle Eastern Zhou dynasty."