Tiger

Date1879

Maker Weng Tonghe Chinese, 1830-1904

Label TextLearned statesman and imperial tutor Weng Tonghe wrote the character for tiger quite often because he was born in the year of the tiger. Here it appears in semicursive script, followed by one line from a poem by Su Shi from eight centuries earlier: “Men made of straw and carved peach tree amulets for warding off evil spirits: useless.” Perhaps Weng was referring to his lack of remedy for the nation’s various ailments, including addiction. The two Opium Wars had legalized the opium trade, and imports to China from Britain reached a height by 1879.

Object number2009.68

ProvenanceSan Xi Tang gallery, Hong Kong, approx. 1984; James Soong

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 28, 2022 - Jan. 8, 2023].

Credit LineGift of James H. Soong in honor of Mimi Gardner Gates

Dimensions6 15/16 x 19 11/16 in. (17.6 x 50 cm)

MediumInk on paper