Wind in the Courtyard Pines

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Zhao Boju (ca. 1120s-ca.1162)

• Description

  Small rocks, trees and tall pines rendered in ink and light color appear in the foreground. In the middle portion of the composition a scholar attended by a servant is seen leaning against a railing. Behind the scholar is a low couch with a small screen and a plain, concave ceramic (?) pillow at one end. Through the window at the right, another servant can be seen arranging objects on a table. Plants and ducks in the inner courtyards are visible through the open doorways. A narrow horizontal band of blue fabric hangs above the rolled spotted bamboo blinds. Tile roofs, wooden framework and pine trees form a dramatic pattern in the upper section of the painting.

• Signatures

  A four-character signature (Qianli Boju) purporting to be that of Zhao Boju (active 12th-century) appears on the lower right edge of the composition.

  Above Pang Yuanji's seal there are three small oval holes in the silk that may have resulted when an earlier signature was removed and replaced by that purporting to be by Zhao Boju.

• Marks

  In the upper right corner of the painting is an impression of the small two-character seal Shaoxing - each character enclosed within a separate square. A seal with these two characters was used by Gaozong (reigned 1127-1162), the first Southern Song ruler; Shaoxing was the last of Gaozong's three reign-titles (1131-1162). All but one of the eight characters in a large rectangular at the lower left are decipherable: Wujiang Shi Minggu shending. Shi Minggu (Shi Jian 1434-1496) was a well-known Ming dynasty connoisseur who had a large number of early calligraphies and paintings in his collection. Another large rectangular seal, this one having six characters: Yangchaotang shuhua yin, affixed in the lower right corner of the painting provides a studio name; this seal also may belong to Shi Minggu.

  A small rectangular six-character seal reading, Xuzhai shending mingji, affixed in the lower right corner of the painting provides the studio name Xuzhai, indicating that the scroll originally was in the collection of the Shanghai collector, Pang Yuanji (1864-1949).

  A small rectangular six-character seal reading, Xuzhai shending mingji, affixed in the lower right corner of the painting provides the studio name Xuzhai, indicating that the scroll originally was in the collection of the Shanghai collector, Pang Yuanji (1864-1949).

• Provenance

  Shi Minggu (1434-1496), Wujiang, Jiangsu province. [1]

  To 1916

  Pang Yuanji (1864-1949), Shanghai. [2]

  From 1916 to 1970

  Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), New York, NY, Washington, DC, and Mt. Kisco, NY, purchased from Pang Yuanji in 1916. [3]

  From 1970 to 1998

  Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz (1914-2001), Armonk, NY, by descent from her mother Agnes E. Meyer.

  From 1998

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] The Ming connoisseur Shi Minggu’s collector seal is located on the painting.

  [2] The painting was published and illustrated in Pang Yuanji’s catalogue, Antique Famous Chinese Paintings Collected by P’ang Lai Ch’en, vol. 1 (Shanghai, Privately published by Pang Yuanji, 1916), no. 23: “Ts’ao Po Chü [Zhao Boju], Pines in the Court.” A seal with Pang Yuanji’s study name, Xuzhai, is located on the paining.

  [3] In 1916 Pang Yuanji, with the assistance of Pang Zanchen and Seaouke Yue, sent a group of paintings illustrated in Antique Famous Chinese Paintings Collected by P’ang Lai Ch’en catalogue to New York and showed them to Charles Lang Freer. See Ingrid Larsen, “‘Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures’: Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum,” Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), p. 23. Freer made a selection of paintings for his collection and advised Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer as well as Louisine Havemeyer with their acquisitions. Freer’s copy of the 1916 Pang catalogue includes penciled annotations indicating that this painting was purchased by Agnes E. Meyer.

  [4] See Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz’s Deed of Gift, dated February 5, 1998, copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Shi Minggu (1434-1496)

  Pang Yuanji 龐元濟 (1864-1949)

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970))

  Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz (1913-2001)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Collection of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer. Gift of Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Freer Gallery of Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1500s

• Name

  Minggu, Shi, Lorentz, Elizabeth Meyer, Meyer, Eugene and Agnes E., Pang, Yuanji

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Pine tree, Wind, Art, Chinese Art, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings