Side of a Stone Sarcophagus

CultureChinese

DateNorthern Wei dynasty (386-534 C.E.)

MediumEngraved grey limestone

DimensionsOverall: 24 1/2 × 88 inches (62.23 × 223.52 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number33-1543/1

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionScenes of filial piety inlcuding two scenes from the story of Shun, three from Kuo Chu and one from Sun.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

This section of a stone sarcophagus is believed to have come from the tomb of Lady Yuan. Born to a noble family, she likely chose to decorate her sarcophagus with scenes of Confucian virtues to demonstrate her status. The virtues displayed here exemplify filial piety—the duty of a son to look after his parents, or a brother to look after his siblings—a cornerstone of Confucian beliefs. What is remarkable about these scenes on the assembled sarcophogus is the way the artist has skillfully integrated landscape and narrative into the composition. Each episode occurs in a “space cell,” the frame defined by the landscape motifs with foreshadowing treatment. The landscapes evoke the mood of the stories and underscore the didactic message. Note the tree with two main trunks: Confucian texts indicate that when virtue permeates all things, double trees will appear. episodes in landscape settings, but the vertical compositions are more condensed than the earlier engravings.

Provenance

With Hua Ku Shan Fang, Peiping (modern-day Beijing, by November 1933;

Purchased from Hua Ku Shau Fang, through Laurence Sickman and the dealer Otto Burchard by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933 [1].

NOTES:

[1] Letter from Otto Burchard to Laurence Sickman, November 9, 1933, Nelson-Atkins Archives, MSS001 Laurence Sickman Papers, box 1a, folder 34.

Published References

Iruko Okumura, “Urinasu: Ikurō zasshi,” (Kyōto-shi: Okumura Ikurō, Shōwa 10 1935), pp.274, 282, 289, 530 (repro.).

“The Chinese Exhibition, A Commemorative Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art Royal Academy of Arts,” (London: Faber and Faber Limited, November 1935- March 1936), 105, 109 (repro.).

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Alexander C. Soper, “Early Chinese Landscape Painting,” Art Bulletin, vol. 23, no. 2 (June 1941): 141-64, figs. 19-20 (repro.).

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Robert L. Thorp and Richard Ellis Vinograd, Chinese Art and Culture (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001), 182, fig. 5-29 (repro.).

Eugene Wang, “Refiguring: The Visual Rhetoric of the Sixth-Century Northern Wei 'Filial Piety' Engravings” in Gu Kaizhi and the Admonitions Scroll, edited by Shane McCausland (London: British Museum Press, Published in association with the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. 2003), 108-121 (repro.).

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Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.