Phoenix

18th century

Chinese

Because the mythological phoenix has been recognized as the most auspicious of birds in China for two millennia, it is found throughout the pictorial records of China and cultures of the East Asian cultural sphere, including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. With the Qilin (a mythical beast), Dragon, and Turtle, it is one of the four auspicious animals of the cosmos, as described in the ancient Book of Rites (Liji). Perched on a rocky outcropping amid a choppy sea, the phoenix’s colorful feathers are described by the unknown Chinese artist through a layering of extraordinarily fine, meticulous brushwork.

Ink and color on silk

Overall (includes mounting, end knobs): 104 1/2 × 45 1/4 in. (265.5 × 115 cm)

Image: 59 13/16 × 39 1/16 in. (152 × 99.2 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

34.180

Provenance: Leon Ellis, by 1934; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1934

Photo: Susan Cole

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Roaring Tigers, Leaping Carp: Decoding the Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting, October 8, 2009 - January 3, 2010.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Fuller View of China, Japan, and Korea, August 10, 2013 – April 13, 2014.

Published ReferencesToda, Teisuke and Hiromitsu Ogawa. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Second Series. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1998; pp. I-362, I-259.

Sung, Hou-mei. Decoded Messages: The Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting. Yale University Press, 2009; cat. no. 44, illus. pg.116.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM