The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Finial
475–221 BCE
Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China
Did You Know?
This finial is made to be placed on the top of a pole or staff.Description
Chariots and weapons were associated with hunting and warfare in the ancient world. Those bronze fittings with lavish inlaid decoration were status symbols of rulers and high-ranking officials.This finial combines extravagance and ferocious beauty to reveal the aesthetics of the time. The birds with hooked beaks are above the intertwined serpent-dragons. Such artistic conception emphasizes the power of the bird in combat. Every facet of this finial is exquisitely crafted to give full play to the inlaid decoration.
- said to be from Hsin-hsiang in Northern Honan [Henan] Province, Chinaafter 1925–by 1930Jörg Trübner [1903–1930] acquired in China, to his brother-in-law, Edgar Worch?–1930(Edgar Worch [1880–1972], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1930–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Kümmel, Otto. Jörg Trübner zum Gedächtnis. Ergebnisse seiner letzten chinesischen Reisen. Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 47, pp. 94–95Hollis, Howard C. “Two Chinese Bronzes.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 18, no. 4 (April 1931): 66–73. Reproduced: pp. 70–71 www.jstor.orgSpendlove, F. St. George, ed. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935-6. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1935. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 387, p. 29, 38Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition: June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1936. no. 383The Chinese Exhibition; A Commemorative Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, November 1935-March 1936. London: Faber and Faber, 1936. no. 387Chinese Bronzes of the Shang (1766-1122 B.C.) Through the Tʻang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906); An Exhibition Lent by American Collectors and Museums and Shown in Gallery D6 from October 19 Through November 27, 1938. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1938. no. 177La découverte de l'Asie. [Exposition] hommage à René Grousset. Paris: Musée Cernuschi, 1954. no. 409The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 803 archive.orgBunker, Emmy Cadwalader. The Art of Eastern Chou, 772-221 B.C.: A Loan Exhibition [the China House, Nov. 13-Dec. 15, 1962]. New York, NY: Chinese Art Society of America, 1962. no. 7The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 246 archive.orgBowie, Theodore Robert. East-West in Art: Patterns of Cultural & Aesthetic Relationships. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1966. no. 134The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 246 archive.orgBunker, Emma C., Bruce Chatwin, and Ann E. Farkas. Animal Style Art from East to West [Catalogue of an Exhibition]. New York: Asia Society; Distributed by New York Graphic Society, 1970. no. 74The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 326 archive.orgWilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (1990): 286-323. Reproduced: pp. 293, 314, cat. no. 9 www.jstor.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 9 archive.org
- Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).The Age of Bronze. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-October 17, 1982).Animal Style in Nomadic Asia. Asia House Galleries, New York City, NY (organizer) (January 14-March 15, 1970); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (April 2-May 31, 1970); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (June 15-July 30, 1970).East-West in Art. Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN.Chinese Art of Late Eastern Chou Dynasty. Chinese Art Society of America, New York, NY (organizer) (November 13-December 11, 1962).La Découverte de l'Asie: Hommage à René Grousset. Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France (May 14-July 31, 1954).The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (October 19-November 27, 1938).The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).International Exhibition of Chinese Art. Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England (November 28, 1935-March 7, 1936).Edgar Worch Collection of Antique Chinese Art. Fifty-Sixth Street Gallery, Inc., New York, NY (1930).
- {{cite web|title=Finial|url=false|author=|year=475–221 BCE|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.730