Container (<em>you</em>) with masks (<em>taotie</em>) and dragons
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1150-1100 BCE
label: Period
content: Late Shang dynasty, middle Anyang period
notes: label: Provenance
content: Reportedly excavated in Anhui province, China [1]
label: Provenance
content: Tonying and Company, New York [2]
label: Provenance
content: From at least 1929 to 1941
label: Provenance
content: Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941), New York and "The Chimneys," Sands Point, Port Washington, Long Island, from at least 1929 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1941 to 1963
label: Provenance
content: Holmes Foundation, New York [4]
label: Provenance
content: 1963
label: Provenance
content: Sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Important Chinese Art: Early Dynastic Bronzes, Silver and Gold...Collected by the Late Mrs. Christian R. Holmes, New York, Sold by the Order of the Holmes Foundation, November 14-15, 1963, lot 266 (ill. on the cover): "Bronze Covered Wine Vessel (Yu)"
label: Provenance
content: From 1963 to 1965
label: Provenance
content: J. T. Tai & Co., New York, New York, purchased at Sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Important Chinese Art..., November 14-15, 1963 [5]
label: Provenance
content: From probably 1965 to 1987
label: Provenance
content: Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York, purchased probably from J. T. Tai & Co., New York, New York [6]
label: Provenance
content: From 1987
label: Provenance
content: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [7]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] According to Jörg Trübner, Yu und Kuang: Zur Typologie der Chinesischen Bronzen (Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann Verlag, 1929), p. 28.
label: Provenance
content: Cheng Mengjia provides the same provenance but mentions also a conflicting report that the vessel came from the Wenzhou area of Zhejiang, see Cheng Mengjia, Yin Zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu (In Shu seidoki bunrui zuroku; A Corpus of Chinese Bronzes in American Collections) (Tokyo: Kyuko Shoin, 1977), A586. See also Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (Washington, DC: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation; Cambridge, Mass.: The Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, 1987), p. 373, no. 64.
label: Provenance
content: [2] The Tonying and Company's stock number "B81" painted in red on the object's base indicates that the vessel at some point was handled by the gallery.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Trübner 1929, p. 28. When it entered the collection of Mrs. Holmes, the you was accompanied by fifteen jade beads said to have been found inside it (see provenance records for S1987.935.1-15).
label: Provenance
content: [4] Mrs. Holmes had established the Holmes Foundation to continue her charity work after her death.
label: Provenance
content: [5] See Joan Marcia Hartman, “America,” Oriental Art 10, 1 (Spring 1964), p. 47.
label: Provenance
content: [6] According to information provided by Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 2009, the jades with which the bronze was auctioned in July 1963 were purchased by Dr. Arthur M. Sackler from J. T. Tai in 1965, see provenance records for S1987.935.1-15.
label: Provenance
content: The bronze was most probably purchased by Sackler from the same source.
label: Provenance
content: [7] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.
label: Collection
content: Arthur M. Sackler Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades (October 1, 1989 - September 10, 1990)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Bronzes from American Collections (October 19 to November 27, 1938)
label: Exhibition History
content: International Exhibition of Chinese Art (November 28, 1935 to March 7, 1936)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Holmes Foundation
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Parke-Bernet Galleries
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)
place: label: Origin
content: probably Henan province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: casting
label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: dragon
label: Topic
content: Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: taotie
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 Arthur M. Sackler
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: S1987.968a-b
objectType: label: Type
content: Vessel
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bronze
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 23 × 20 × 17.6 cm (9 1/16 × 7 7/8 × 6 15/16 in)