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Source Description
The lotus flower has long been associated with Chinese notions of purity. Growing from the muddy bottom of the pond, the blossoms reveal a pure and radiant beauty. The name of the flower, "he," sounds like the Chinese word for harmony. Paired with the male and female ducks, these lotuses may have been painted to wish a couple harmony in their marriage.When this painting was remounted eighty or ninety years ago, it was identified as a work of the Sung dynasty (960-1279), and the false signature of Liu I-chih was probably added at that time. Although the interest in meticulous realism can be traced back to Sung times, the composition and peculiar point of view--with giant lotuses and tiny ducks--suggest a date in the 17th or 18th century.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
37110
label
Ducks in a Lotus Pond
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
5
Source metadata
id
37110
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Ducks in a Lotus Pond
description
The lotus flower has long been associated with Chinese notions of purity. Growing from the muddy bottom of the pond, the blossoms reveal a pure and radiant beauty. The name of the flower, "he," sounds like the Chinese word for harmony. Paired with the male and female ducks, these lotuses may have been painted to wish a couple harmony in their marriage.When this painting was remounted eighty or ninety years ago, it was identified as a work of the Sung dynasty (960-1279), and the false signature of Liu I-chih was probably added at that time. Although the interest in meticulous realism can be traced back to Sung times, the composition and peculiar point of view--with giant lotuses and tiny ducks--suggest a date in the 17th or 18th century.
provenance
Panama-Pacific International Exposition, China Pavilion, San Francisco, 1915 [no. 122]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1915, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
17th-18th century (Qing)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
kakemono
scroll paintings
imageCount
5
pageCount
5
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
123.1
height
43.1
dimensionsRaw
H: 48 7/16 x W: 16 15/16 in. (123.1 x 43.1 cm)
style
Piling [P'i-ling] School
Source extras
cul
Chinese
inscriptions
[Signature] Spurious signature of Liu Yizhi [Liu I-chih]; [Seal] Fain seal in red
lower right
dynasty
Ming [Ming]-Qing [Ch'ing] Dynasty
med
ink and color on silk mounted on paper
creator_ids
6238
collection_ids
CHN
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
9b20d4976db3fd66
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
a3594434d61adad8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
524b362647efab7c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
73e601b38140dba5
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
84f4418ba1ac46f5
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no