Object Details
- Label
- Several types of zithers were played in ancient China. The earliest (the se, zheng, and zhu) used movable bridges for tuning, but the qin, a seven-stringed zither that evolved between the fifth and second century B.C.E., has tuning pegs on the underside that are turned with a metal key. The decoration of these tuning keys-combative animals and a bear native to China's northern territory-may have been inspired by the goods traded with seminomadic peoples along China's northern frontier. Some scholars believe this may indicate that the qin developed, at least in part, in response to foreign musical traditions.
- Provenance
- To 1916
- Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1916 [1]
- From 1916 to 1919
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1916 [2]
- From 1920
- The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
- Notes:
- [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Bronze List, S.I. 972, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
- [2] See note 1.
- [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Virtue and Entertainment: Chinese Music in the Visual Arts (October 1, 2005 to May 29, 2006)
- The Dragon's Moan (February 6 to October 1, 2000)
- Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- 5th century BCE
- Period
- Eastern Zhou dynasty
- Credit Line
- Gift of Charles Lang Freer
- Medium
- Bronze
- Dimensions
- H x W: 8.2 x 4 cm (3 1/4 x 1 9/16 in)
- Type
- Musical Instrument
