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Source Description
Min Zhen, who was orphaned at age 12 and developed an eccentric personality, was trained by Tang Yin (1682–1756), a writer, playwright, and superintendent of the imperial porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen. The connection to him may have enabled Min to stay in Beijing for a decade from around 1773. It is not clear whether he ever resided in Yangzhou, but his style is in many instances reminiscent of that of Yangzhou artist Huang Shen. <br><br>The album was painted for the artist's friend Dailili Shanren in exchange for a scholar’s stone. The paintings demonstrate Min Zhen’s versatility and mature style in the last years of his life. This leaf, <em>Elephant, Horse, and Hare</em>, seems to exhibit a contest, and may be associated with the recipient’s affinity to Buddhism (elephant), Confucianism (horse), and Daoism (hare).
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
152822
label
Elephant, Horse, and Hare
core
obj
dtoType
painting
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
152822
contentType
painting
title
Elephant, Horse, and Hare
description
Min Zhen, who was orphaned at age 12 and developed an eccentric personality, was trained by Tang Yin (1682–1756), a writer, playwright, and superintendent of the imperial porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen. The connection to him may have enabled Min to stay in Beijing for a decade from around 1773. It is not clear whether he ever resided in Yangzhou, but his style is in many instances reminiscent of that of Yangzhou artist Huang Shen. <br><br>The album was painted for the artist's friend Dailili Shanren in exchange for a scholar’s stone. The paintings demonstrate Min Zhen’s versatility and mature style in the last years of his life. This leaf, <em>Elephant, Horse, and Hare</em>, seems to exhibit a contest, and may be associated with the recipient’s affinity to Buddhism (elephant), Confucianism (horse), and Daoism (hare).
date
1788
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60475725
creators
31140
genreSpecific
Painting
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall single page: 36.8 x 22.1 cm (14 1/2 x 8 11/16 in.); Painting: 29 x 18.4 cm (11 7/16 x 7 1/4 in.)
cul
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
accession
1985.71.1
Source extras
tec
album leaf, ink on paper
tombstone
Album of Miscellaneous Subjects (雑畫圖冊): Elephant, Horse, and Hare, 1788. Min Zhen (Chinese, 1730–after 1788). Album leaf, ink on paper; overall single page: 36.8 x 22.1 cm (14 1/2 x 8 11/16 in.); painting: 29 x 18.4 cm (11 7/16 x 7 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1985.71.1
series
Album of Miscellaneous Subjects
seriesInOriginalLanguage
雑畫圖冊
collection
ASIAN - Album leaf
inscriptions
inscription
Six seals appearing on the leaves:
Min Zhen 閔貞; Zheng zhai 正齋; Qingqiao 青橋; Zhen 貞; Liao tang 蓼塘; Min Zhen zhi yin 閔貞之印。
sortorder
1
formerAccessionNumbers
85.71a
didYouKnow
The artist might have seen an elephant in the imperial zoo when he worked in Beijing from 1773 to 1784.
citations
citation
Ding, Nianxian 丁念先. <em>Nian sheng lou du hua xiao ji</em> [念聖樓讀畫小紀 = Chinese calligraphy and painting of various dynasties in the collection of Nianshenglou]. Taibei: Wen xing za zhi she, 1961.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 41, no. 85
citation
Fukunaga, Takehiko 福永武彥, and Howard L. Rogers. <em>Kinnō,</em> <em>Bunjinga suihen. chiyūgo (9)</em> 金農, 文人画粋編. 中国篇 9. Tōkyō: Chūōkoronsha, 1976.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pls. 94–97, p. 179, fig. 30
citation
Sotheby's, Parke, Bernet, New York. <em>Fine Chinese Paintings</em>. June 3, 1985 sale.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 69
citation
Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. <em>Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015.
page_number
Reproduced: pp. 462–465
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:54:05.544000
sourceId
152822
dept
Chinese Art
coll
ASIAN - Album leaf
med
album leaf, ink on paper
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
e55ec65c40098202