Palace Ladies Playing Double Sixes

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Maker(s)
Artist: Traditionally attributed to Zhou Fang (傳)周昉 (ca. 730-ca. 800)
Historical period(s)
Southern Song dynasty, late 12th to mid-13th century
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W (overall image): 30.5 x 69.1 cm (12 x 27 3/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Jean-Pierre Dubosc, Lugano, Switzerland
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1960.4
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Handscroll

Keywords
China, playing, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279)
Provenance

About 1960
Jean-Pierre Dubosc (1903-1988), Paris and Lugano [1]

From 1960
Freer Gallery of Art, gift from Jean-Pierre Dubosc in 1960 [2]

Notes:

[1] Jean-Pierre Dubosc acquired the right-hand section of the painting "Palace Ladies Playing Double Sixes" around 1960, see James Cahill, “The Return of the Absent Servants: Chou Fang’s Double Sixes Restored,” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America vol. 15 (1961), pp. 26-28. The main section of the painting was purchased by the Freer Gallery in 1939 from C. T. Loo, Dubosc’s father in law, see provenance record for F1939.37. It is not known when the painting was divided. The colophon by Chu Deyi on the main section of the painting, dated July 8-August 5, 1937, refers to a complete copy of the scroll in the National Palace Museum, Taipei and concludes that a section of the painting “was cut away at some point in a distant past.” See documentation for F1939.37/F960.4 in “Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy,” http://www.asia.si.edu/SongYuan/F1939.37/F1939-37andF1960-4.Documentation.pdf.

[2] After the acquisition, this recovered fragment was reattached to F1939.37 and the painting has been restored, see Cahill 1961, cited in note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Jean-Pierre Dubosc 1903-1988

Published References
  • Thomas Lawton. "画中人 上海书画出版社." Chinese Figure Painting. Shanghai, China. .
  • Suzuki Kei. Chugoku kaiga sogo zuroku [Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Painting]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1982-1983. vol. 1: p. 205.
  • Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt. Chinese Ladies in the Istanbul Albums. no. 1. fig. 145.
  • Ellen Mae Johnston Laing. Scholars and Sages: A Study in Chinese Figure Paintings. Ann Arbor, 1967-1986. .
  • Mary Ellen Hayward. The Influence of the Classical Oriental Tradition. vol. 14, no. 2 Chicago, Summer 1979. fig. 2.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 37, vol. 1: pp. 156-8.
  • Scientific Studies of Pigments in Chinese Paintings. Washington, DC. p. 16.
  • Xie Zhiliu. "唐五代宋元名迹." The Song and Yuan Dynasties. Shanghai. pp. 33-35.
  • Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. p. 45.
  • Hiromi Kinoshita. Art of China: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. New Haven, Connecticut. p.146, fig. 48.
  • Thomas Lawton. Chinese Figure Painting. Exh. cat. Washington, 1973. cat. 51, pp. 200-203.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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