Ceremonial vessel, type kuei. Surface: silvery gray patina with patches of green aerugo; rough green patination inside; azurite under the foot. Decoration: in relief and incised.
[4] See Loo's stockcard no. LAP 5901: "Bronze incense-burner on a square stand, 6th cent. B.C.," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file. According to annotations on the stockcard, the vessel arrived in New York on the S.S. Normandie with Loo in November 1937 and was brought to the Freer Gallery for approval in December 1937.
[1] The Imperial Household collection of Prince Kung was under the authority of Prince Kung Ching Wang (Yixin) (1833-1898), and, later, Prince Puwei (Prince Gongxian) (1880-1936), before Yamanaka and Company acquired it. See Illustrated Catalogue of the Remarkable Collection of the Imperial Prince Kung of China, A Wonderful Treasury of Celestial Art: recently acquired by the widely known firm of Y
The Translation reads: Bronze jar, called "Yi," with some inscriptions on the cover and the bottom of the jar. The inscriptions read: "Ya-Tso-mo-Sui-Yi." 'Mo-Sui-Yi' is the name of this jar. The first word means that the jar is offered to the temple. The second and third words mean that so and so made it.
[1] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 559, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.