Mandarin ducks

Object Details

• Artist

  Unkoku Toetsu (active late 17th-early 18th century)

• Label

  Mandarin ducks, which remain with one mate for life, are symbols of marital accord. A pair of mandarin ducks swimming on a nearly frozen surface often represents the twelfth month of the lunar year. This skillfully rendered work features the strong delineation and rendering of three-dimensional form that was introduced into Japanese painting from China. The artist was a descendant of the Unkoku school, which traced its artistic lineage to Sesshu (1420-1506), who was one of a few artists able to travel to China to study painting. The Unkoku school flourished in Yamaguchi, where Sesshu lived for a time.

• Provenance

  ?-no later than 1985

  Possibly Howard Hollis

  (1899-1985), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  Likely by 1985-1999

  Anne Hollis Reese (1937-2022), likely by inheritance from her father Howard Hollis [2]

  From 1998

  The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Anne Hollis Reese [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See object file for copy of the Justification for Acquisition accompanying the Freer Gallery of Art “Acquisition Consideration Form: Gift, Transfer, or Bequest,” dated December 2, 1998. The Justification was written by the Smithsonian Curator of Japanese Art at the Freer Gallery. They wrote, “Ms. Reese is the daughter of the late Howard Hollis, former Curator of Oriental Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art and one of the most important dealers of Japanese and Chinese art in the post-war era. Ms. Reese still holds works inherited from her father.” It is possible that this object is among those which transferred to Anne Hollis Reese by inheritance from her father .

  Howard Hollis was Curator of Far Eastern and Near Eastern Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1929 until serving as Officer in Charge of the Far East division of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program in Tokyo in 1946; he resumed his post in Cleveland in 1948. He founded Howard Hollis & Company in Cleveland, specializing in Asian Art, which he expanded to a second location in 1961 in New York City. Hollis frequently partnered with Mayuyama Junkichi

  (1913-1999) of Mayuyama & Co., Ltd.

  [2] See object file for November 11, 1998 Incoming Receipt for object described as “Painting, hanging scroll; Mandarin Ducks; by Unkoku Tōetsu .” The scroll was assigned Freer Gallery of Art vault record no. V56.98. Anne Hollis Reese, born Anne Bradshaw Hollis, of Washington, D.C., was a psychiatric social worker and an advocate for the arts. She worked with the U.S. Department of State in Pakistan, Morocco, and Burkina Faso, among other geographic regions. Her father was Howard Hollis, Curator of Far Eastern and Near Eastern Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, an officer with the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives, and founder of Howard Hollis & Company gallery, specializing in Asian Art.

  [3] See object file for Deed of Gift to the Freer Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution, for “Mandarin Ducks,” by Unkoku Tōetsu. The Deed of Gift was signed by Anne Hollis Reese on January 27, 1999, and co-signed by Milo C. Beach on February 16, 1999.

  Research updated October 23, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  A Journey of Taste: Freer and Japanese Scroll Mounting (April 15, 2023 to March 3, 2024)

  Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)

  Birds and Beasts in Japanese Art (January 31 to July 18, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Howard Hollis and Company (established 1949)

  Anne Hollis Reese (1937-2022)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Anne Hollis Reese

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Howard Hollis and Company, Reese, Anne Hollis

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Trees, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ducks, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings