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recto overall
Basket of Flowers
recto overall
recto overall

Basket of Flowers

Original Language Title清 籃花冊頁
Artist Unknown
CultureChinese
Dateprobably Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
MediumAlbum leaf; colors on silk
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/4 × 8 3/4 inches (23.5 × 22.23 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number31-135/32 D
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionTall-handled basket of flowers with daisies, columbine, pinks, and roses.Exhibition History

Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, KS.  Exhibition.  November 1957-January 1959.

Gallery Label

Chinese flowers convey secret messages in different ways, and are often used as a form of word play. In Chinese, the daylilies on top of the flower basket have three names, each one carrying a different meaning:

Xuan 萱: It is an elegant nickname for mother, so this flower can be used to honor one’s mother.

Yi nan 宜男: The two-character phrase refers to many boys. If a pregnant woman wears this flower, she may wish to have a baby boy.

Wang you 忘憂: The phrase literally means that one forsakes sorrow. Therefore, if you send this flower to a grieving friend, it can help to relieve the friend’s sadness.


Provenance
With Celestin Liu, Peking (modern-day Beijing), China, by July 1931 [1];

Purchased from Celestin Liu, through Langdon Warner (1881-1955), by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1931.

NOTES:

[1] "Kansas City - Itemized Purchases in China and Japan, 1932," Harvard Pusey Library, Langdon Warner Personal Archive, box 15, folder 28, copy in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.
Published References

Joseph N. Newland, ed. essays by Lloyd Cotsen. Japanese bamboo baskets: masterworks of form & texture from the collection of Lloyd Cotsen. (Los Angeles: Cotsen Occasional Press, 1999), 65, fig. 3.

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.