In the style of Han stele

Object Details

• Artist

  Li Ruiqing (1867-1920)

• Provenance

  ?-1997

  Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (1929-2014), New York, NY [1]

  From 1997

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, purchased from Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, New York, NY [2]

  Notes:

  [1] This was purchased from Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (1929-2014) in 1997. Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, also known as “Bobby”, was an important connoisseur, collector, and dealer of Asian art in New York, NY. Ellsworth specialized in Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian sculpture, paintings, furniture and works of art.

  [2] See note 1. This work is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  Research updated on April 29, 2026

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (1929-2014)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Freer Gallery of Art

• Type

  Calligraphy

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1920s

• Name

  Ellsworth, Robert Hatfield

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Robert Hatfield Ellsworth collection, Clerical script, Modern period (1912 - present)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Calligraphy (visual works)