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A long, narrow painted hanging scroll with long, slender stems with very large leaves and flowers at the top. There is a small bird in between the stems. There is Chinese writing to the bottom-left.

The long, narrow painted scroll shows three bunches of long, slender light green stems that come from the center of the image towards the top. The first bunch is to the left and the other two are behind and to the left. The stems have large, fanned out green and blue leaves and white flower blossoms at their tops. There is one smaller leaf lower down of the first bunch of stems. There is a small blue bird with a white chin and small, pointed beak in between the stems. The bird’s wings are outstretched and it is facing to the left. At the bottom of the stems are small, tan brush strokes that are faded. There is a short, slender painted mark with long horizontal marks coming out from it. There is small vertical Chinese writing to the bottom-left of the scroll. There is a small red symbol in both the left and right bottom corners.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2000.233
People
Ren Yi 任頤, Chinese (1840 - 1896)
Title
Kingfisher Over a Lotus Pond
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 蒲塘翠羽圗
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
hanging scroll, painting
Date
late 19th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Qing dynasty, 1644-1911
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/176958

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; with artist's inscription; with artist's signature reading "Bonian Ren Yi xie"; and with artist's seal impression reading "Yi yin"
Dimensions
painting proper: H. 144.6 x W. 36.9 cm (56 15/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
mounting, including cord and roller ends: H. 287 x W. 69.9 cm (113 x 27 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: Bonian Ren Yi xie; seal: Yi yin; inscription
  • label: On title slip, exterior of scroll, written by a former collector / dealer [name not recorded]:
    任伯年蒲塘翠羽圗真跡 [Putang cuiyu tu, an authentic work by Ren Bonian]

    約三十六嵗作 [Painted when he was about 36]

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for Asian Art
Accession Year
2000
Object Number
2000.233
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Ren Yi (also known by his sobriquet Bonian) was born in Shangyin (modern Shaoxing), Zhejiang province. The son of a portrait painter, Ren Yi learned to paint at a young age and in adulthood used his art as his livelihood. After living for a time in Ningbo and Suzhou, Ren finally settled in the newly developed port city of Shanghai in 1868. From his base in bustling Shanghai, Ren Yi developed a new and novel style of painting that won him a wide audience and made him the acknowledged leader of the Shanghai school, or Haipai. Though it favors light colors, Ren's style is at once bold, forceful, and vivid, as exemplified by this delightful bird-and-flower painting.

Depicting a small bird with outstretched wings darting through the attenuated stems of lotus growing in a pond, this painting adopts a perspective that brings the viewer down to the water's surface, virtually eye-to-eye with the tiny creature. The broad, blue-green lotus leaves and lush white blossoms appear enormous as they loom above the bird, while a thick forest of lotus stems nearly camouflages it altogether. Faint brush strokes representing water reeds and grasses delineate the pond's surface, which would otherwise appear as a void.

The lotus is an important motif in Chinese art that traces its symbolic origins to Buddhism. Because it grows in muddy waters, yet emerges upright, unsullied, fragrant, and beautiful, the lotus became an emblem of purity in Buddhist literature and imagery. The two Chinese terms for lotus--lian and he--are phonetically identical to numerous auspicious phrases, such as love and harmony, and are thus ubiquitous in Chinese folk art and rebuses.

Exhibition History

  • Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Bamboo: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/06/2002 - 01/05/2003
  • Cultivating Virtue: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/08/2006 - 04/08/2007
  • 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/03/2015 - 06/07/2016

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu