Thatched Hut amid plum blossoms
Date1793
Maker
Zhang Daowo
Chinese, active late 18th century
Label TextSome plants are laden with meaning in Chinese philosophical, literary, and artistic traditions. Paintings of verdant bamboo forests and idyllic peach tree groves not only depict scenic places but relate to lofty reclusion in nature. Plum is another significant plant and the subject of scholarly obsession since the 12th century. Delicate in color and fragrance yet flourishing in the cold during late winter, plum blossoms came to allude to steadfast high morals during times of political adversity. Zhang Daowo created this work upon the request of an official who was serving in a government post but desired to return home. Zhang’s inscription refers to his own home, with its apricot trees growing along the water bank, but his painting shows a cottage surrounded by plum trees—a flattering and suitable subject referring to the official’s good taste and principles.
The colophons were written by like-minded viewers who understood the flower symbolism. Several were composed for the scroll’s owner, like this poem added by Cheng Jinfang (1718-1784), “To paint plums is not as good as to actually reside in the mountains,/ As such flowers imitate what remains from one’s memory./ Still, when the wind passes through the blinders and mist shrouds the house,/ The spirit of the blossoms come back to life in this scroll.” Cheng then described his overwhelming elation viewing this scroll, recalling a flower-picking trip so wonderful that he slept with his clothes on afterwards.
Object number52.120
ProvenanceLin Xiongguang林熊光 (1897-1971); Mayuyama & Co., Ltd.
Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective", December 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009 (12/22/2007 - 7/26/2009)Published ReferencesToda, Teisuke and Hiromitsu Ogawa. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Second Series. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1998. See p. I-362, I-262-3.Credit LineThomas D. Stimson Memorial Collection, Gift of Mrs. Frank S. Bayley
DimensionsOverall: 14 1/2 x 288 in. (36.8 x 731.5 cm)
Image:13 1/4 x 54 1/8 in. (33.7 x 137.5 am)
MediumInk and color on paper
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