The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 27, 2023

Food Container (Gui)

龍耳簋

600–500 BCE

China, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-256 BC), Spring and Autumn period

(770-476 BC)

Bronze

Overall: 34.3 x 44.5 cm (13 1/2 x 17 1/2 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1974.73

Location

241A Arts of Ancient China

Description

Openwork and sculptural designs elaborately transform the silhouette of this gui, a ritual food vessel with a square pedestal. The design exudes motion, exuberance, and baroque characters to a stately vessel form. Lotus-petal openwork encircles the cover, reinforcing the linear rhythms of the undulating wave patterns on the body. Two lively dragons, with eyes and mouth wide open and tongue straight out, are accompanied by two felines to form the arched handles.

Provenance
Hans Jüergen von Lochow [1902–1989]
?–1974
Frederick M. Mayer [1899–1974], New York, NY
June 25, 1974
(Christie, Manson & Woods, London, England, June 25, 1974 sale, lot 219, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1
1974–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

1 One of pair, the other purchased by John D. Rockefeller.
Citations
Christie, Manson & Woods. The Frederick M. Mayer Collection of Chinese Art. 25 June 1974 sale. Lot 219
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1974.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 3 (1975): 62–103. Mentioned: p. 103, cat. no. 176; Reproduced: p. 104 (back cover) www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 325 archive.org
Wang, Haiwen 王海文. "The Dragon-eared [-handled] Kuei 龍耳簋." Gugong bowuyuan yuankan [故宮博物院院刊 = Palace Museum Journal], 1979, no. 4. Mentioned: pp. 25 and 32
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 7 archive.org
Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).

Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post-war America. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 10-August 9, 2009).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.73