Provenance Information

Acquired by George and Katherine Fan of Ossining, New York in Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China in 1990’s (exact date unknown); donated to The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois in 2011.

Exhibition Information

“Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Shouyang Studio: The Katherine and George Fan Collection.” Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China (October 19, 2008-February 7, 2009); Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China (October 19-August 2, 2009); Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo, Peoples Republic of China (November 14-December 20, 2009); the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (November 6, 2010-January 2, 2011).

Publication Information

Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Shouyang Studio: The Katherine and George Fan Collection (exh. cat., Shanghai Museum and Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China, 2008), cat. 2, cat. 6.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The cumulative facts and circumstances known to the Art Institute of Chicago at the time of the acquisition allowed it to make an informed judgment to acquire the object. Dr. George Fan, who together with his wife donated these objects to the Art Institute, is a Chinese-American collector who is currently an advisor to the Shanghai Museum. In 2008, the Shanghai Museum and the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong co-organized an exhibition of Dr. Fan’s bronzes that included these objects. This exhibition, accompanied by the catalogue cited above, opened at the Shanghai Museum in October 2008 and was subsequently shown at the Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and at the Ningbo Museum of Art. With the assistance of administrators of the Shanghai Museum, it was also shown at the Art Institute of Chicago from November 6, 2010 to January 2, 2011. It is our understanding that Dr. Fan offered to donate to China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) those pieces in his collection that government officials deemed should remain in China and in November 2009 transferred to the SACH nine vessels that SACH officials had selected. Neither the Shanghai Museum nor the SACH asked that the two objects listed above be returned to China. In light of the public exhibition of the objects, the familiarity of the Shanghai Museum and SACH with the objects, and the absence of a request from SACH for the objects, the museum determined that they could be acquired.

The acquisition of these vessels furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because they are examples of an important formative stage of Chinese bronze casting. In addition, the vessels illustrate clear stylistic and technical prototypes for well-published examples in the Art Institute collection that were acquired in the 1920s and 1930s.