Woodcutter Receiving a Drink at a Fishing Boat

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Fang Congyi (active 1340-1380)

• Label

  Having laid aside his carrying pole of bundled twigs and sticks, a wood-gatherer stops at a fishing boat moored by the choppy river and accepts a drink from a barefoot fisherwoman wearing a loose, patched robe. A young child leans back on the deck of the roughly roofed boat, casually observing their interaction. While the destitute condition of these ordinary country folk is neither idealized nor obscured, the potential starkness of their poverty is greatly tempered by the simple human warmth and hospitality of the scene.

  The signature at lower right of the Yuan dynasty artist Fang Congyi (active ca. 1340-1380) is forged.

• Provenance

  To 1918

  Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1918 [1]

  From 1918 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang, in New York, in 1918 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1290, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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

  On the River (April 01, 1995 to January 23, 1996)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1640s

• Name

  Wang, Jiantang, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Landscapes, Boats and boating, Art, Chinese Art, Willow tree, Wood-gathering, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings