The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Handle of a Jiangu Drum

c. 770–475 BCE

China, Zhou dynasty

(c. 1046–256 BCE), Spring and Autumn period (770–475 BCE)
bronze
Overall: 9 cm (3 9/16 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1941.548
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The square stud on the head of each figure may represent a bun.

Description

The most remarkable feature of this object is the four kneeling figures with ornamented bodies; Han dynasty sources mention cut hair and tattooing as a custom among the local Yue people. This bronze work served as a handle and top ornament of a large, barreled drum called jiangu (建鼓), supposedly made of lacquer and alligator skin. Two comparable handles from tombs dated to the Spring and Autumn period in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces were found amid musical instruments. The handle allows the drum to be suspended and played from the sides.
  • ? by 1935–1941
    (C.T. Loo 盧芹齋 [1880–1957], Paris, France, and New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1941–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The 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. Mentioned: cat. no. 117, p. 7
    C.T. Loo, Inc. (New York, N.Y.), and J. Leroy Davidson. An Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes. New York: The Company, 1939. Reproduced
    Riepe, Marion W., James M. Menzies, and James Marshall Plumer. An Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes. Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Art, 1940. Reproduced
    von Spee, Clarissa, Yiwen Liu, Xiaofei Tian, Richard Von Glahn, Feng Zhao, Shelagh J. Vainker, Masaaki Itakura, Jiang Wu, Zhenghua Wang, and Yifan Li. China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 101, cat. no. 9
  • China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).
    An Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes. Detroit, MI (October 18-November 10, 1940).
    An Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes. New York, NY (1939).
    International Exhibition of Chinese Art. Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England (November 1935-March 1936).
  • {{cite web|title=Handle of a Jiangu Drum|url=false|author=|year=c. 770–475 BCE|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.548