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Table Leg in the Form of a Bear

CultureChinese
Date4th-3rd century B.C.E.
MediumBronze inlaid with gold and silver
DimensionsOverall: 5 × 4 3/4 inches (12.7 × 12.07 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number31-137/30
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 224
Collections
DescriptionOne of a pair of table legs in the form of a bear, with its two front legs upraised, with inlaid designs of spirals, whorls, triangles, and volutes. The bear's right front leg is missing.Exhibition History

Exhibition of Early Chinese Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA, October 10-November 25, 1934.

 Exhibition of Bronzes, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, January 31-February 28, 1937.

Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes in American Collections, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, October 13-November 27, 1938.

Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, February 18-December 2, 1939.

Cultural Exhibition of Yin and Chou, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Takashimaya Department Store, Japan, November 1958.
Provenance

Zie Sooey Koo;

Purchased from Zie Sooey Koo by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1931.

Published References

Master Bronzes: Selected from Museums and Collections in America, February 1937 (Buffalo, New York: Albright Art Gallery, 1937), no. 23 (repro.).

Pacific Cultures/ Department of Fine Arts, Division of Pacific Cultures (San Francisco: Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939), 34 (repro.).

Tombs of Old LoYeng, vol. 2 (Sekai Bijutsu Zenshu: Tokyo, 1951), 52, fig. 104 (repro.).

World History: Ancient China, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Sekai Bunka Sha, November 25–December 7, 1958), 188 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 175 (repro.).

Werner Speiser, China: Geist und Gesellschaft (Baden-Baden: Holle, 1959), 55 (repro.).

Mario Bussagli, Bronzi Cinesi (Milano: Fabbri, 1966), 14, pl.4 (repro.).

George Savage, A Concise History of Bronzes (New York: Praeger, 1969), 112, no. 94 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 17 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 280 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 298, no.48 (repro.).
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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