Ritual grain container (fu)
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.This fu vessel is a faithful copy of an ancient bronze, yet it also features an unusual design idea. Its inscription includes a request to add a lid as the archaic model, published in an antiquarian catalogue, had lost its cover. The new lid with three peaks had no archaic precedent and demonstrates the Ming artist’s creativity.
Inscription
周叔邦父簠
明監察御史張淮，時成化甲辰歲巡按南畿，命通判蘇州府事邵福、李智依圖加蓋造於崑山縣之廟學
Vessel fu of Shu Bang Fu of the Zhou dynasty.
In the jiachen year of the Chenghua reign [1484], Zhang Huai, the Investigating Censor of the Ming, inspected Nanji and ordered Shao Fu and Li Zhi … to make [this vessel] in accordance with the diagram [from Xuanhe bogutu] and add its lid for the Confucian school of Kunshan County.
Inscription
周叔邦父簠
明監察御史張淮，時成化甲辰歲巡按南畿，命通判蘇州府事邵福、李智依圖加蓋造於崑山縣之廟學
Vessel fu of Shu Bang Fu of the Zhou dynasty.
In the jiachen year of the Chenghua reign [1484], Zhang Huai, the Investigating Censor of the Ming, inspected Nanji and ordered Shao Fu and Li Zhi … to make [this vessel] in accordance with the diagram [from Xuanhe bogutu] and add its lid for the Confucian school of Kunshan County.
Artwork Details
- 明成化 昆山縣學祭器銅簠
- Title: Ritual grain container (fu)
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: 1484
- Culture: China
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Dimensions: H. 7 5/16 in. (18.5 cm); W. 9 3/16 in. (23.3 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork
- Credit Line: Lent by British Museum
- Rights and Reproduction: Photograph © The Trustees of the British Museum, London
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art