Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Vessel

Historical period(s): Han dynasty, 206 BCE-220 CE

Object Date: 206 BCE-220 CE

Medium: Bronze with gilding

Dimension(s): H x Diam: 4.3 x 16 cm (1 11/16 x 6 5/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1918.153

Provenance: To 1918
Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1918 [1]

From 1918 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1918 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Bronze List, S.I. 1381, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous owner(s): Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (C.L. Freer source) (1917-1965)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Bowl, shallow, with flange rim and low circular base, recessed on the inside.
Surface: gilded and partially covered with a green aerugo and brownish earth attachments.
Decoration: on the exterior, the body is encircled midway by a broad band in low relief, with a narrow molding at its centre; incised decoration of scrolls on interior and exterior base, cavetto and exterior walls, and flange rim.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Purchased from Yamanaka and Company, New York. For price, see Original Bronze List, S.I. 1381.

2. Original attribution: Chinese. Han (?). See further, S.I. 1381, Appendix IX and Miscellaneous Envelope file.

3. (J.E. Lodge, 1925) T'ang.

4. (H.E. Buckman, 1964) The Envelope file contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.

5. (T. Lawton, 1974) This object should be dated Han. A very similar bowl in the collection is 19.184.

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

7. (S. Kitsoulis, 16 June 2010 per Keith Wilson) Title changed from "Bowl, shallow, with flange rim and low circular base, recessed on the inside" to "Bowl" object name changed from "Bowl" to "Vessel"; added "with gilding" to medium.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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