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Receptacle | Mengshangfu-hu
Bronze vessel, 2. Hälfte 9. Jahrhundert v. Chr.
About the object
The jug is an exquisite example of early Chinese casting and was cast in bronze using a number of section casting moulds. Hu type jugs were used for sacrificial ceremonies. Thus, millet wine, for example, would be served from it using long-handled ladles.
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One of the inscriptions inside the jug tells us that a certain Meng Shang Fu (Mr. Meng Shang - »Fu« denoting high status) commissioned the object. His family probably had his own ancestral temple, for which this sacred vessel was created. The story of the object is unclear. It is documented for the first time in China in the late-19th century. In 1902 it was offered in the auction catalogue of the Hayashi Collection in Paris and arrived in Freiburg via Ernst Grosse, who was the Honorary Director of the Municipal Collections at the time. Author: Eva Gerhards, Translation: Timothy Connell