A Tartar, His Horse, and Equipment

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, 1368-1644
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W (image): 33.9 x 58.7 cm (13 3/8 x 23 1/8 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1911.163f
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Album leaf

Keywords
China, horse, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
Provenance

To 1911
Pang Yuanji (1864-1949), Shanghai, China, to 1911 [1]

From 1911 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Pang Yuanji, in China, in 1911 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Album List, pg. 41, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Pang Yuanji (C.L. Freer source) 1864-1949

Label

After removing the saddle of his horse, a non-Chinese groom leads it away, perhaps to a nearby pond or river for a drink. The contrast between the crisp, linear depiction of the groom and the gentle washes of the horse is both vivid and subtle. In the lower right foreground lie two sets of saddles, arrows, and bows, one of which probably belongs to another groom and horse that are no longer part of the composition. Together with the fact that the current painting is an odd size for an album leaf, this suggests the work may have been cut from a larger composition originally in the format of a handscroll or a hanging scroll.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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