A Tartar Horseman Coursing a Hare

Historical period(s)
Ming or Qing dynasty, 17th century
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W: 25.6 x 27.3 cm (10 1/16 x 10 3/4 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1911.480
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Album leaf

Keywords
China, horse, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
Provenance

To 1911
Li Wenqing (circa 1869-1931), Shanghai to 1911 [1]

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

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Panel List, L. 77, 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
Li Wenqing (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1869-1931

Label

This small album leaf depicts, judging by its subject's costume, a non-Chinese hunter and his dog who have successfully brought down a hare. While the stylistic origin of the "trembling" brush line zhanbi, employed to depict the contours of the hunter's costume, can be traced to the Five Dynasties period (907-960), this small work is a much later reinterpretation of the style. Created by rhythmically altering pressure on the brush tip to produce lines of varying thickness, zhanbi is often used to convey a sense of motion or agitation. The album leaf bears a spurious seal of the famous Ming dynasty painter Qiu Ying (ca. 1494-1552), whose works are unrelated to this painting in either composition or style.

Published References
  • Suzuki Kei. Chugoku kaiga sogo zuroku [Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Painting]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1982-1983. vol. 1: p. 239.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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