Spouted cup with mask and incised linked curls

1. From original Folder Sheet note: Late Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周.

Bought from C. T. Loo [Lu Qinzhai] 盧芹齋, New York. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List After 1920.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Han 漢 dynasty.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Letter of November 22nd, 1934, from Bishop William Charles White (q.v.) says:

"Later on I submitted the photograph to Chang Tzu mei . . . assured me that the 'peach' shaped cup (No. 307 in my book) passed through his hand, and described its color, approximate size, etc., and gave me to understand  that more than one were found, but he was vague as to the number. The photograph I showed him, from which my plate was made, had been given to me by C. T. Loo [Lu Qinzhai] 盧芹齋's men in Shanghai 上海. Yours would appear to be of the same group, if it is not actually the same object."

4. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Late Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty changed to Late Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周, Warring States period; Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村  added, changed from Lo yang [Luoyang] 洛陽. 

Exhibition Ancient Chinese Jade label text; moved to label field.

5. (Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480--222 B.C. [Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, 1982], cat. no. 103)  In shape, the cup resembles ritual bronze vessels of the type i 彛, a comparison suggesting that the spout was meant for pouring. The shaped foot of the Freer cup appears to be an innovation of the jade craftsman, since that detail is not found on metal versions. An incised wide band of interlocked double spirals ornaments the exterior of the cup. An inverted t'ao t'ieh [taotie] 饕餮, or monster mask, is engraved beneath the protruding lip. Incised decoration on the flat edge of the lip suggests that it was meant to be seen as a further, plastic extension of the t'ao t'ieh [taotie] 饕餮 mask. [1] The jade cup is said to have been found at Chin ts'un 金村, near Loyang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [2]

Two silver cups of similar shape are also given a Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村 provenance. There are two character inscriptions on the outer bases of the cups. [3]

[1] The Freer cup has been illustrated and discussed by S. Howard Hansford, Chinese Jade Carving (London: Lund Humphries, 1950), p. 114, pl. 19b; Alfred Salmony, Carved Jade of Ancient China (Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938), pl. 57:1; Osvald Siren, Kinas Konst under Tre Artusenden, vol. 1 (Stockholm: Natur och Kultur, 1942), pl. 57a; Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Shina kogyoku zuroku 支那古玉圖錄 (Kyoto: Kuwana bunseido, 1955), pl. 60; S. Howard Hansford, Chinese Carved Jades (London: Faber, 1968), pl. 38b; Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Rakuyō Kinson kobo shūei 洛陽金村古墓聚英 (Kyoto: Kobayashi shashin seihanjo shuppanbu, 1937), pl. 80:3.

[2] William Charles White, Tombs of Old Lo Yang: A Record of the Construction and Contents of a Group of Royal Tombs at Chin ts'un, Probably Dating to 550 B.C. (Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh Limited, 1934), p. 131.

[3] Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Rakuyō Kinson kobo shūei 洛陽金村古墓聚英 (Kyoto: Kobayashi shashin seihanjo shuppanbu, 1937), pl. 24--25, top; Umehara reads the characters as kan Hsiao []; Bernhard Karlgren believes them to be kan-yu ("Notes on a Kin-ts'un Album," Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 1938.10: 76). Three silver pieces, including the two cups, said to have come from Chin-ts'un 金村 are reproduced by Mizuno Seiichi 水野清一, In Shū seidōki to tama 殷周青銅器と玉: Bronzes and Jades of Ancient China (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 1959), pl. 154A.

6. Exhibition Chinese Art label text; moved to label field.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 19, 2008) Deleted "Jincun 金村" from Artist; added "Possibly Jincun 金村, Henan 河南  province" to Geographical Location, Origin. As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "5th--4th century BCE" to "475--221 BCE." Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth West Fitzhugh, as determined by X ray diffraction 1956; and confirmed by Janet G. Douglas using infrared spectroscopy in March 1996. Also changed Object Name from "Winged cup" to "Cup"; changed Title from "Cup" to "Spouted cup." Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) Vessel added as secondary classification.

9. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 27, 2024) Title changed from "Spouted cup" to "Spouted cup with mask and incised linked curls"; added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang; removed the following from the Description field "Peach-shaped cup with spout and low, spreading foot. Translucent, greenish-white jade (nephrite) with light and dark brown markings. Large areas of opaque cream white decomposition; much earth incrustation. Incised, wide band of interlocked double spiral pattern, one taotie mask. Rim and foot rim broken, surface damage.

Jade vessels are rare in antiquity, but a few are found in the Warring States and Han inventory. The semi-translucent walls show the relief spirals and high gloss characteristic of the Jincun style. The cup displays a monster-mask beneath its spout." Added the following to the Description field "Cup, peach shaped, with low, spreading foot; translucent, greenish white with light and dark brown markings; large areas of opaque cream white decomposition; much earth incrustation. Incised, wide band of interlocked double spiral pattern, one t’ao-t’ieh [taotie] 饕餮 mask. (Rim and foot rim broken, surface damage.)"