Handle of a Jiangu Drum (c. 770–475 BCE): Art, History and Details

Handle of a Jiangu Drum (c. 770–475 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Handle of a Jiangu Drum
• Date: c. 770–475 BCE
• Culture: China, Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE), Spring and Autumn period (770–475 BCE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 9 cm (3 9/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Zhou Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1941.548

A detail from the museum

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

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.
• C.T. Loo, Inc. (New York, N.Y.), and J. Leroy Davidson. An Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes. New York: The Company, 1939.
• Riepe, Marion W., James M. Menzies, and James Marshall Plumer. An Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes. Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Art, 1940.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.