Provenance Information

by 2004 - 2008 Eunice and Herbert Shatzman, Durham; 2008 collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca (gift of Eunice and Herbert Shatzman)

Exhibition Information

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, Heavenly Earth: Early Chinese Ceramics from the Shatzman Collection, June 5 – August 22, 2004

Publication Information

Avril, Ellen. Heavenly Earth: Early Chinese Ceramics from the Shatzman Collection [an exh. cat.] (Ithaca: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2004); ref. p. 20-21, cat. no. 8, color illus. p. 20.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The donors pledged part of their collection, including this object, to the museum prior to 2008, as per correspondence dated 2001, on file.

Provenance Information

Private collection in Taiwan held base of Funerary Couch prior to February 2004; Private collection in Hong Kong held panels of the Funerary Couch prior to February 2004; Gisele Croës, Arts d'Extreme-Orient gallery, Brussels, Belgium, February 2004; Danese, Gisele Croës’ temporary gallery in New York, NY, March 2004; Shipped to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia, May 2004. VMFA purchased this work in May of 2005 in order to bring it into a publicly accessible collection.
Since 2010, the work has been highlighted in the Collections section of VMFA’s website. The work has been on display in VMFA’s East Asian Gallery

Exhibition Information

The work was exhibited in “Ritual Objects and Early Buddhist Art” , Gallery Danese, 41 E. 57th Street, New York, NY, March 22 – 31, 2004; it was published in the accompanying catalogue:

Publication Information

Ritual Objects and Early Buddhist Art, Gisele Croës, Arts d'Extreme-Orient, Brussels, pp. 23-55, ill. 25-55.

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

This acquisition was made prior to the AAMD guidelines of 2008. In this case, VMFA decided to make an exception to the 1970 rule in order to bring this object into a free, publicly accessible, educational institution, where it could be studied, displayed, and publicized.

Provenance Information

Acquired by Robert Ellsworth in Hong Kong in 1987; sold by Robert Ellsworth to The Metropolitan Museum of Art through Kaikodo LLC.

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 work has provenance established to 1987. The work is an important addition to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection because it is the first example of a celadon with a translucent glaze produced in north (as opposed to south) China from this period.

Provenance Information

Acquired by the father of Charlotte Krueger in Beijing, China prior to 1912; Krueger family relocated to Germany around 1912; inherited by Charlotte Krueger, Germany, after 1912 (exact date unknown); inherited by anonymous collector (name on file at the Art Institute of Chicago), Berlin, Germany, 1999; purchased by anonymous collector (name on file at the Art Institute of Chicago) (residence unknown) at auction in Cologne, Germany in 2007; purchased by Fred Eychaner and Tommy Yang Guo of Chicago, Illinois at auction at Christie’s, New York, New York in 2008; donated to the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois in 2008.

Exhibition Information

On view in the Art Institute of Chicago's gallery of Chinese bronzes since May 2009, Chicago, Illinois.

Publication Information

Asiatische Kunst — Asian Art (auction catalog, Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, Germany, December 7/8, 2007), lot 939;

Masterworks of Ancient and Imperial China (auction catalog, Christie’s, New York, New York, September 17, 2008), lot 555, pp. 26-27;

The Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report, 2008-2009 (posted on AIC web site), colorplate and p. 19;

Elinor Pearlstein, “Wine Flask (Hu),” Notable Acquisitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 35, 2 (2010), pp. 32-33, 93, Chicago, Illinois.

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

Informed judgement that works were outside of the country of modern discovery before 1970

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

A collector, who asked to remain anonymous but whose name is on file at the museum, purchased this object at auction in Cologne, Germany, in 2007 and then sold it at Christie’s in 2008. When he sold it at Christie’s, he gave Christie’s a letter he had received from the immediate prior owner (i.e., the person who sold it at the Cologne auction). That letter explained that the object was originally acquired by the father of Charlotte Krueger sometime before 1912 while the Krueger family was living in China. The Krueger family left China for Germany in approximately 1912, apparently taking the object with them. Ms. Krueger inherited the object from her father and then subsequently bequeathed the object to the prior owner, who decided to sell it at the Cologne auction about ten years later. The museum has a copy of this letter in its files and has confirmed that the person whose name appears as the author of the letter is a retired, well-published biochemistry professor in Berlin. The museum has been unable to contact the writer, however, because he also asked to remain anonymous. The acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because it illustrates an important stylistic prototype for two vessels in the museum's collection that are from one century later.

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.

Provenance Information

Collection of Shoji Hamada (1894-1978); sold by his son to London Gallery, Ltd. (Tokyo), in the early 1980s; sold by London Gallery, Ltd. to Dr. and Mrs. Marvin Gordon, 1990; gift from Dr. and Mrs. Marvin Gordon to the Asian Art Museum, 2009.

Note: The Asian Art Museum contacted Tajima Mitsura, the proprietor of London Gallery, for additional information on the work's provenance. Mr. Tajima purchased the work in the early 1980s from a private Japanese collection. "I bought it over 20 years ago in the early 1980s from the son of Shoji Hamada (1894-1978), to whom it belonged at the time. Mr. Hamada was one of Japan's greatest potters in the 20th century and had amassed quite a collection of ceramic wares throughout his life. After he died in 1978, his son privately sold some pieces from the collection, and this was one of them."

Exhibition Information

None that the museum is aware of

Publication Information

None that the museum is aware of

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

While the object was not formally accessioned until 2009, it was offered as a gift prior to the establishment of the guidelines. It is also believed to have been outside of the country of modern discovery by 1970.

Provenance Information

Purchased by The Metropolitan Museum of Art at Christie’s, New York, on March 19, 2008, lot 481. Payment for this work was made after The Metropolitan Museum of Art adopted the Report of the AAMD Task Force on the Acquisition of Archaeological Materials and Ancient Art (2008). The Christie’s sales catalogue stated that the consignors, the McPhersons, acquired the work in the 1980s. The work was offered for sale at Sotheby’s, New York, on June 12, 1984, as lot 34, but did not sell. The McPhersons may have acquired it from Sotheby’s after that sale.

Exhibition Information

The work was exhibited in connection with the Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions.

Publication Information

The work was published in the Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction catalogues.

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

This work has provenance established to at least 1984 when the work was published and offered for sale at public auction. This work fills a major gap in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s comprehensive collection of Asian art because the Museum has no other bi of this type from the 3rd century B.C. in its collection and because of the work’s excellent quality and condition.