1923.152: The Imperial Steeds

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1923.152

People

Traditionally attributed to Ren Renfa 任仁發, Chinese (1254 - 1327)

Title

The Imperial Steeds

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

handscroll, painting

Date

ca. 16th-17th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China

Period

Ming dynasty, 1368-1644

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/206575

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on silk with spurious signature reading "Yueshan daoren"

Dimensions

H. 28.4 x W. 175.6 cm (11 3/16 x 69 1/8 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: Signed with a 17-character inscription that translates: "In the spring of the Chia-yin year of the Yen-yu era, Yüeh-shan tao-jen painted the heavenly steeds at the K'o-shih-t'ang".Two seals of the artist, 10 collectors' seals:(beginning of scroll; upper right:) Shih-ch'u pao-chi (Ch'ing Imperial Collection);(second from top:) Yang-hsin-tien chien-ch'ang-pao(two bottom seals) Ling-chih; Shih-ku-t'ang shu-hua (seals of Pien Yung-yu, 1645-1702)(two seals along the scroll) Chia-ch'ing; Ch'ien-lung(end of scroll; two seals at right of inscription:) Hsien-k'e; Shih-ku-t'ang shu-hua(two seals following the inscription:) Jen-shih tzu-ming; Yüeh-shan tao-jen [spurious seals of Jen Jen-fa](final seals beyond silk mounting:) two seals of Prince Kung.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number

A 10-025 (Suzuki Kei)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Edward B. Bruce Collection of Chinese Paintings, Gift of Galen L. Stone

Accession Year

1923

Object Number

1923.152

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Publication History

• Suzuki Kei, Chugoku kaiga sogo zuroku, Amerika Kanada hen (Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections), University of Tokyo Press (Tokyo, Japan, 1982), p. 56, no. A 10-025
• Hou-mei Sung, Decoded Messages: the Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting, exh. cat., Yale University Press (U.S.) and Cincinnati Art Museum (New Haven, CT; Cincinnati, Ohio, 2009), pp. 201-202, cat. no. 68

Exhibition History

• Art in East and West, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, 02/04/1955 - 02/28/1955
• Decoded Messages: The Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 10/09/2009 - 01/03/2010

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