Horn Scepter

Object Details

• Artist

  Jin Nong (1687-1763)

• Label

  This small scepter is carved to resemble a woody fungus known in Chinese as lingzhi ("sacred fungus"). The plant is also called the "fungus of immortality" because it was believed to be a powerful ingredient in elixirs intended to prolong human life. An inscription on the base contains a cyclical date and a sobriquet, or art name, used by the painter and antiquarian, Jin Nong (1687-1763). Thus it is likely that this horn object was made for (or possibly made by) Jin Nong.

• Provenance

  To 1918

  You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1918 [1]

  From 1918 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), given by You Xiaoxi in 1918 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1374, 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

  Worshipping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits (June 17 to September 9, 2001)

  Beyond Paper: Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (August 18, 1994 to July 3, 1997)

  Chinese Art (May 9 to November 29, 1993)

• Previous custodian or owner

  You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1720s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, You, Xiaoxi

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Fungi, Horn, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Sculpture

• Tax Kingdom

  Fungi