Object: Ritual grain server (gui) with spikes, ribs, and, dragons F1931.10

Classification: Vessel

Historical period(s): Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-1000 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1050-1000 BCE

Medium: Bronze

Dimension(s): H x W: 23.2 x 37.2 cm (9 1/8 x 14 5/8 in)

Origin: China, Shaanxi province, Baoji

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1931.10

Provenance: 1931
C. T. Loo & Company, New York 1931 [1]

From 1931
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company, New York in 1931 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

Previous owner(s): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

Description: Ceremonial vessel, type kuei. Surface: silvery gray patina with patches of green aerugo; rough green patination inside; azurite under the foot. Decoration: in relief and incised.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Undated folder sheet note) Purchased from C. T. Loo and Company, New York. For price, see <u>Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920<e>.

2. (Undated folder sheet note) For another vessel of the same character, see 30.26.

3. (Hervert Maryon, British Museum, 1954) The handles are hollow channels with inside opening, but still filled with original clay core. The metal of the pot runs up the sides of the handles which suggests that handles were cast first and then placed in a mold and pot cast to them. Moreover, there is only one overlap on the side toward the handle. If it were a weld there would be two overlaps on the out side and one on the inside. These beveled joints that look a little like welds are where the joints were built up with wax to make cast joints stronger. This technique prevents the handles from showing through on the inside.

4. (A.G. Wenley, 1957) See note 2, folder sheet 30.26.

5. (R.J. Gettens, 1963) Weight: 18 lbs. 6 oz.

6. (J.A. Pope, 1968) Attributes this to Early Chou, late 11th -early 10th century B.C.

7. (T. Lawton, 1976) Added: word "Western" after Early.

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

9. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 3/2009) Ritual grain server (gui) with spikes.

10. (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, 7 July 2010) Title changed from "Ritual grain server (gui) with spikes" to "Ritual grain server (gui) with spikes, ribs, and, dragons"; Object name changed from "Ritual grain server (gui)" to "Ritual vessel."

11. (S. Kitsoulis per label text from exhibition of Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes, Freer Gallery of Art 20 November 2010) Date changed from "late 11th-early 10th century" to "ca. 1050-1000 B.C.E.; added "Baoji, Shaanxi province" to geographic location.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Ritual grain server (gui) with spikes, ribs, and, dragons

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