Qin tuning key (<em>qin zhenyao</em>) with tiger and snake
date: label: Date
content: 5th century BCE
label: Period
content: Eastern Zhou dynasty
notes: label: Label
content: Several types of zithers were played in ancient China. The earliest (the se, zheng, and zhu) used movable bridges for tuning, but the qin, a seven-stringed zither that evolved between the fifth and second century B.C.E., has tuning pegs on the underside that are turned with a metal key. The decoration of these tuning keys-combative animals and a bear native to China's northern territory-may have been inspired by the goods traded with seminomadic peoples along China's northern frontier. Some scholars believe this may indicate that the qin developed, at least in part, in response to foreign musical traditions.
label: Provenance
content: To 1916
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1916 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1916 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1916 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Bronze List, S.I. 972, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Virtue and Entertainment: Chinese Music in the Visual Arts (October 1, 2005 to May 29, 2006)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Dragon's Moan (February 6 to October 1, 2000)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: tiger
label: Topic
content: snake
label: Topic
content: Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1916.454
objectType: label: Type
content: Musical Instrument
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bronze
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 8.2 x 4 cm (3 1/4 x 1 9/16 in)