2015.28: Nahan (Chinese, Luohan) Riding a Spotted White Deer in a Landscape While Assisted by an Elderly Male Attendant

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2015.28

Title

Nahan (Chinese, Luohan) Riding a Spotted White Deer in a Landscape While Assisted by an Elderly Male Attendant

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting

Date

18th-early 19th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, Korea

Period

Chosŏn dynasty, 1392-1910

Culture

Korean

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/197473

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Section of a hanging scroll mounted on a panel and framed; ink and colors on paper

Dimensions

painting proper: H. 49.8 x W. 46 cm (19 5/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
frame: H. 71.8 x W. 61 cm (28 1/4 x 24 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

John M. Lyden, New York, (1965-1987). [Kang Collection, New York (by 1995)], sold; Ralph C Marcove, New York (1995-2001), inherited; by Christina J. Marcove, New York (2001-2015), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Christina Marcove and Laura Marcove Hoffman in honor of Robert D. Mowry

Accession Year

2015

Object Number

2015.28

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

This painting is mounted and framed as a discrete album leaf. Done in ink and colors on paper, the painting, which might originally have been mounted as a hanging scroll, presumably came from a larger set of multiples, each representing an arhat (Korean: nahan; Chinese: luohan) -- saintly, enlightened beings who protect the Buddhist faith. This painting depicts an arhat sitting on the back of a spotted white deer in the center of the composition. The arhat's grayish blue monk’s robe sports modest decoration painted in gold; his patchwork cape boasts squares of red fabric embellished with gold designs within black borders. At the right edge of the composition stands an attendant dressed in a red robe, a large hat made of spotted bamboo hangs from a string around the attendant's neck and rests at the middle of his back. The two figures appear in a confined landscape of the archaistic blue-and-green type. Sprigs of bamboo crown the tall rock that rises at the left edge, while a plant with orange blossoms grows at its base. A banana plant and stylized flowers decorate the faceted rock that borders the right edge. A rippling stream crosses the center of the composition, separating the even-toned green foreground from the distant background.

Exhibition History

• Paragons of Wisdom and Virtue: East Asian Figure Painting, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/15/1997 - 09/21/1997
• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/17/2017 - 05/08/2017

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