Liu Hai Crossing the Sea

Object Details

• Artist

  Probably by Zhao Qi (active 1488-1505)

• School/Tradition

  Zhe School

• Label

  Liu Hai ("Ocean Liu") is one of the most popular immortals of Daoism. He is often shown with a three-legged toad that could take him wherever he wished. Usually Liu also carries a string of gold coins with which he repeatedly captured his toad whenever it escaped down a well. Liu and his toad symbolize wealth and good fortune. Here, the replacement of gold coins with two peaches of immortality suggests a broader and more general function, as an auspicious symbol of long life, good luck, and happiness.

  Another version of this composition, in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, bears the signature of Zhao Qi, a court painter of the fifteenth century, suggesting that both pictures came from Zhao's workshop.

  The popular tale of the immortals crossing the sea was often enacted in colorful displays of acrobatics and dramatic performance. It is possible that this scroll was originally part of a set of pictures that were displayed on the walls of an imperial theater when an entertainment was being performed.

• Provenance

  To 1915

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), London, to 1915 [1]

  From 1915 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr, London, in 1915 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Panel List, L. 118, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.

  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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Luxury and Luminosity: Visual Culture and the Ming Court (July 3, 2004 to June 26, 2005)

  In Human Form: Images of the Secular and Divine in Chinese Painting (January 31, 1996 to January 7, 1997)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) (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.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Bahr, Abel William

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Water, Wave, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Chinese Art, Toads, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Liu Hai

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings