Squirrels and Grapes
Artist
Yue Zheng
(Chinese, 1418 - 1473)
Date1450
MediumHanging scroll; ink and color on paper
DimensionsOverall: 48 1/2 × 16 3/8 inches (123.19 × 41.59 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number68-43
On View
Not on viewCollections
Gallery LabelYue Zheng, 1418-1473
Chinese
Squirrels and Grapes, dated 1450
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Grapes, a valuable fruit in ancient China, were the favorite subjects of Yue Zheng, who painted in addition to his career as a court official. Yue chose them, according to one of his treatises, due to their slender trunks, rich green leaves, curvy veins and juicy purplish berries. Using a conventional analogy in Chinese painting, the artist equated these good qualities to gentlemen's virtues. Likewise, squirrels were the elegant substitute for mice, and suggested abundance and proliferation. Chinese painters loved to use bunches of short lines over the layer of ink wash to create the texture of squirrels' soft, fluffy fur.
Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust, 68-43
Chinese
Squirrels and Grapes, dated 1450
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Grapes, a valuable fruit in ancient China, were the favorite subjects of Yue Zheng, who painted in addition to his career as a court official. Yue chose them, according to one of his treatises, due to their slender trunks, rich green leaves, curvy veins and juicy purplish berries. Using a conventional analogy in Chinese painting, the artist equated these good qualities to gentlemen's virtues. Likewise, squirrels were the elegant substitute for mice, and suggested abundance and proliferation. Chinese painters loved to use bunches of short lines over the layer of ink wash to create the texture of squirrels' soft, fluffy fur.
Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust, 68-43
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Yong Zheng
early 18th century
50-9
Iwasa Matabei
Edo period (1615-1868)
81-27/33