Reliquary in the form of a miniature sarcophagus
date: label: Date
content: 8th century
label: Period
content: Tang dynasty
notes: label: Provenance
content: To 1915
label: Provenance
content: Marcel Bing (1875-1920), Paris, France [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1915
label: Provenance
content: Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC and Mt. Kisco, NY purchased on behalf of Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) from Marcel Bing through C. T. Loo of Lai Yuan &Co., New York in early December 1915 [2]
label: Provenance
content: 1915 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Eugene Meyer on December 14, 1915 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Bing’s ownership is documented in several locations. See, for example: November 11, 1915 letter from Marcel Bing to Charles Lang Freer; letters from December 10 and 15 from Eugene Meyer to Charles Lang Freer; telegrams exchanged between Marcel Bing, Charles Lang Freer, and Eugene Meyer dating from November 15 to December 5, 1915; February 2, 1916 letter from Charles Lang Freer to Marcel Bing; and Freer Gallery of Art Original Bronze List S.I. 674. Copies of aforementioned documents in object file.
label: Provenance
content: [2] Eugene Meyer, Agnes E. Meyer, and Charles Lang Freer negotiated with Marcel Bing to arrange a joint purchase of Bing’s collection of 11 Chinese bronzes and 1 jade. See correspondence cited in note 1. The Meyers and Freer decided to divide the collection - Meyers acquiring 5 bronzes and Freer acquiring 6 bronzes in addition to the jade – and the price, calculating each party’s contribution based on the appraisal values assigned to each piece. The Meyers ultimately sent the entire payment to C. T. Loo, Lai Yuan & Company (sometimes spelled Lai-Yuan), who in turn wired money to Bing. Meyers made the payment in early December 1915, with Freer paying the Meyers for the objects destined for his collection on December 14, 1915.
label: Provenance
content: See also: Freer Gallery of Art, Original Bronze List, S. I. 670; invoices from Lai Yuan & Company addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Meyer and Mr. Charles L. Freer; and Dorota Chudzicka, “’In Love at First Sight Completely, Hopelessly, and Forever with Chinse Art’: The Eugene and Agnes Meyer Collection of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art” in Collections Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 2014), p. 334-335, copies in object file. All the objects included in this large sale, which were originally divided between the Meyers and Freer, are now in the museum’s collection ( F1915.102; F1915.03a-b; F1915.104; F1915.105; F1915.106a-f; F1915.107; F1915.108; F1961.30a-b; F1961.32a-b; F1968.28; F1968.29).
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 674, copy in object file. See also note 2.
label: Provenance
content: [4] 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: Promise of Paradise (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Promise of Paradise: Early Chinese Buddhist Sculpture (December 1, 2012 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Special Exhibit for King and Queen of Nepal (April 26, 1960 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Buddhist Art (July 19, 1958 to April 26, 1960)
label: Exhibition History
content: Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)
label: Exhibition History
content: Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Early Chinese Pottery and Scultpure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916 (March 6 to October 15, 1916)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Marcel Bing (1875-1920)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: purportedly from Henan province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: gilding
label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: Tang dynasty (618 - 907)
label: Topic
content: funerary
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 17: Promise of Paradise
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: F1915.106a-f
objectType: label: Type
content: Container
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bronze with gilding
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 36.7 x 17 x 33.5 cm (14 7/16 x 6 11/16 x 13 3/16 in)