Courtesans with fan and flute

Maker(s)
Artist: Formerly attributed to Zhang Gui (active mid-12th century)
Historical period(s)
Qing dynasty, 17th-18th century
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W (image): 156.2 x 88.8 cm (61 1/2 x 34 15/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1916.107
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)

Keywords
China, fan, flute, music, playing, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), rose, woman
Provenance

To 1916
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1279, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, LVC Catalogue, 1915, No. 76.

[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

In the In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, visits to urban pleasure quarters were a regular occurrence in upper-class life. For educated men, an interlude with a courtesan was a time to shake off official duties and Confucian responsibilities, and they enjoyed being entertained by witty and artistically talented women who played chess, wrote poetry, danced, and knew music. This painting of a young woman who suggestively holds a flute is charged with sexual innuendo. Her companion, a more senior courtesan, holds a rose in a gesture that frequently appears in erotic Chinese paintings.

Published References
  • Frederick William Gookin. Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Paintings, Sculptures and Jade Objects from the Collection formed by Charles Lang Freer, and Given by Him to the Nation through the Smithsonian Institution, Exhibition November 15 to December 8, 1917. Exh. cat. Chicago, November 15 - December 8, 1917. cat. 2, opp. p. 14.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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