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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.170.121
Title
Wine beaker (gu)
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 商 灰陶觚
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
16th-14th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/176659

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gray earthenware
Dimensions
H. 26.2 x Diam. 10.5 cm (10 5/16 x 4 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Christie's, New York, 21 September 2000, lot 219] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2000-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial gift of the Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation and partial purchase through the Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.170.121
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Beaker of tall, slender form with flared mouth, and lightly flared pedestal foot with three small tabs encircling the perimeter; lower body encircled by grooved bands; lightly burnished gray earthenware. Vessels of this form became popular for wine drinking in the Shang dynasty and may be based on an Erlitou culture (1900-1500 BCE) prototype.
Commentary
Compare to:
(1) Black pottery gu vessel excavated in 1960 from a Shang stratum at Maqiao, Shanghai municipality, now in the Shanghai Museum collection. See Treasures from the Shanghai Museum: 6,000 Years of Chinese Art, René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, ed. (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and Shanghai: Shanghai Museum, 1983), cat. 12, pp. 72 and 149.
(2) Gray pottery gu vessel excavated from an Erlitou site. See Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo [Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences], Erlitou taoci jicui [Cream of the Pottery from Erlitou] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1995), 44, pl. 7.

Publication History

  • Fine Chinese Ceramics, Paintings, and Works of Art, auct. cat., Christie's, New York (New York, September 21, 2000), lot 219

Subjects and Contexts

  • Sedgwick Collection

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu