A bronze plaque in the shape of a bird-headed creature seen in profile and covered with decorated gold foil. Details such as eyes and ears, are indicated by striated bands worked into the sheet of hammered gold. Interlaced dragons enframed by striated bands occur along the rounded surface of the plaque.
Provenance:
Possibly from Xinzheng, Henan province, China [1]
To ?
Herbert Mueller (b. 1885), Beijing and Berlin [2]
To 1979
Senator and Mrs. Hugh Scott, Washington DC [3]
From 1979
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of the Senator and Mrs. Hugh Scott, Washington DC [4]
Notes:
[1] Curatorial Remark 3 in the object record.
[2] Herbert Mueller (also known by his Chinese name, Mi Sunglin) established the Sunglin Collection (see Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society, Vol. 18, 1940-1941). See note 1.
[3] Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office. Also see folder sheet note dated September 13, 1995, object file, Collections Managed Office.
