Pavilions by a mountain stream

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, 16th-17th century
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 33.9 x 69.7 cm (13 3/8 x 27 7/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1911.155e
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Fan (mounted as album leaf)

Keywords
China, landscape, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), mountain, river, water
Provenance

To 1911
Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, to 1911 [1]

From 1911 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, in 1911 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Album List, pg. 36, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to 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), Loon Gu Sai was possibly Lunguzhai, a store in the antiques district of Liulichang.
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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Loon Gu Sai (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Two figures in separate pavilions among the hills gaze at each other across an expanse of water. The elaborate one-room viewing tower at right is built on a sturdy stone foundation and the covered walkway behind it may connect to a larger public structure of some kind. Supported above the water on pilings, its simpler counterpart at left is more likely part of a private dwelling, which includes the walled garden in back.

Published References
  • Suzuki Kei. Chugoku kaiga sogo zuroku [Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Painting]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1982-1983. vol. 1: p. 233.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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