Waterside pavilion overlooking islands

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Liu Songnian (傳)劉松年 (ca. 1150-after 1225)

• Provenance

  Possibly Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) (reigned 1861-1908), China [1]

  To 1914

  Edmund Backhouse (1873-1944), Peking, China, to 1914 [2]

  From 1914 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edmund Backhouse, through T.J. Larkin, London, in 1914 [3]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Remark 3, Charles Lang Freer, 1917, in the object record: "It is said that this album was at one time the property of the late Dowager Empress."

  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 Original Album List, pg. 45, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Edmund Backhouse (1873-1944) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s, 1640s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Backhouse, Edmund

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Water, Mountains, Blue-and-green style, Charles Lang Freer collection, Landscapes, Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Islands

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings