Bringing a Lute to an Immortal's Pavilion 攜琴仙觀圖

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Guo Zhongshu (傳)郭忠恕 (910-977)

• Label

  In the foreground, two men in scholar's robes accompanied by servants, each bearing his master's qin (zither, or lute), saunter across a rough wooden bridge. Their destination is apparently a pair of elaborate, two-storied pavilions built on the nearby lakeshore. Other scholars and servants can be glimpsed through the windows of the main pavilion, which stands on a stone foundation that extends into the water. Front and back sections of the pavilion are supported by ranks of sturdy pilings that rest on this foundation, while an intricate bracketing system carries the exquisitely decorated roofs of each story.

  While the label attached at upper right identifies the two buildings as an immortal's lodge or belvedere, this association with the divine should be taken as a figure of speech. The pavilions are generic structures belonging to the mundane world, and their architectural elements are drawn in the precise jiehua (ruled-line) method. The label also attributes this painting to the tenth-century master of jiehua, Guo Zhongshu; however, the execution is technically consistent with the fourteenth-century continuation of his style and is probably the work of an unidentified master from the late-Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).

  To learn more about this and similar objects, visit http://www.asia.si.edu/SongYuan/default.asp Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy.

• Provenance

  To 1919

  You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1919 [1]

  1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi in 1919 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1323, 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

  Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Yuan Legacy (November 22, 2014 to May 31, 2015)

  Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting (September 29, 2002 to March 30, 2003)

• 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

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s, 1300s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, You, Xiaoxi

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Pavilion, Daoist Immortals, Charles Lang Freer collection, Landscapes, Art, Jiehua, Chinese Art, Qin, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368), Rivers

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings