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Benefactor bestows ancient, rare treasure
By Wang Dalei |
December 27, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
VISITORS to the Jiading Museum often marvel over a wine vessel decorated with patterns of animal faces among the exhibits.
The artifact is known as Shou Mian Wen Jue in Chinese archaeology, and it dates back to the Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC). The piece is one of only two of its kind preserved in China today.
But how did such a treasure come into the collection of a district museum?
For that, art lovers have Zhang Bihan to thank. Zhang was an overseas Chinese of Jiading origin who donated many pieces from his family collection to the museum.
His father Zhang Songzhou was one of the founders of the Jiafeng Cotton Mill that ushered in Jiading's modern industries.
A financer himself, the younger Zhang was interested in calligraphy, painting and other fine arts. He is also a feverish curio collector.
After the founding of New China, he moved from Hong Kong to the United States, leaving some of his collection with his younger sister in Hong Kong. Never forgetting his motherland or his hometown, he returned periodically to Jiading.
The most important visit, perhaps, occurred on November 7, 1987, when Zhang and his wife donated nine artifacts to the Jiading Museum, including this wine vessel from the Shang Dynasty, a vase from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907-979), and a wintersweet vase from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
According to recollections of Wang Renyuan, then curator of the Jiading Museum who took part in the acceptance ceremony, all those present at the ceremony were awed at the value of Zhang's donations.
Inside the wintersweet vase, for instance, was a tag showing that the vase originally sold for three taels of gold during the Qing Dynasty. That indicates significant value even in that era.
The Shou Mian Wen Jue, in particular, boasts a quality rarely seen in other bronze ware of its period.
It features a long pouring trough and a short "tail" opposite. Inscriptions are cast on its interior. Supporting the pouring trough are two umbrella-shaped posts. With an oval belly, a round base, and three knife-shaped legs slightly jutting out, the vessel marks the transition of wine vessel design during the Shang Dynasty.
Wang recalled a visit by bronze experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences after the Shou Mian Wen Jue was acquired. The experts told him that they had completed the compilation of 14 volumes of bronzeware inscriptions, and found that there were only two wine vessels of its kind existing in the world. They had searched all major museums and art galleries for the two vessels but found only one. They never dreamed of seeing the other one here in Jiading.
"Do take care of this rare treasure, please," said Chen Peifen, a bronzeware expert from Shanghai.
Zhang Bihan died in 1995. Zhang Shichao, his son, inherited the family tradition of sharing family treasures. He has donated a number of artworks, including a porcelain pigsty from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420), a tortoise-shaped inkstand and a rosewood pen holder, both from the Qing Dynasty.
The artifact is known as Shou Mian Wen Jue in Chinese archaeology, and it dates back to the Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC). The piece is one of only two of its kind preserved in China today.
But how did such a treasure come into the collection of a district museum?
For that, art lovers have Zhang Bihan to thank. Zhang was an overseas Chinese of Jiading origin who donated many pieces from his family collection to the museum.
His father Zhang Songzhou was one of the founders of the Jiafeng Cotton Mill that ushered in Jiading's modern industries.
A financer himself, the younger Zhang was interested in calligraphy, painting and other fine arts. He is also a feverish curio collector.
After the founding of New China, he moved from Hong Kong to the United States, leaving some of his collection with his younger sister in Hong Kong. Never forgetting his motherland or his hometown, he returned periodically to Jiading.
The most important visit, perhaps, occurred on November 7, 1987, when Zhang and his wife donated nine artifacts to the Jiading Museum, including this wine vessel from the Shang Dynasty, a vase from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907-979), and a wintersweet vase from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
According to recollections of Wang Renyuan, then curator of the Jiading Museum who took part in the acceptance ceremony, all those present at the ceremony were awed at the value of Zhang's donations.
Inside the wintersweet vase, for instance, was a tag showing that the vase originally sold for three taels of gold during the Qing Dynasty. That indicates significant value even in that era.
The Shou Mian Wen Jue, in particular, boasts a quality rarely seen in other bronze ware of its period.
It features a long pouring trough and a short "tail" opposite. Inscriptions are cast on its interior. Supporting the pouring trough are two umbrella-shaped posts. With an oval belly, a round base, and three knife-shaped legs slightly jutting out, the vessel marks the transition of wine vessel design during the Shang Dynasty.
Wang recalled a visit by bronze experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences after the Shou Mian Wen Jue was acquired. The experts told him that they had completed the compilation of 14 volumes of bronzeware inscriptions, and found that there were only two wine vessels of its kind existing in the world. They had searched all major museums and art galleries for the two vessels but found only one. They never dreamed of seeing the other one here in Jiading.
"Do take care of this rare treasure, please," said Chen Peifen, a bronzeware expert from Shanghai.
Zhang Bihan died in 1995. Zhang Shichao, his son, inherited the family tradition of sharing family treasures. He has donated a number of artworks, including a porcelain pigsty from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420), a tortoise-shaped inkstand and a rosewood pen holder, both from the Qing Dynasty.
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