Tray

CultureChinese

Date2nd century C.E.

MediumEarthenware with unfired pigments

DimensionsOverall: 15 inches (38.1 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number34-218

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionFour figures of seated men, a pig, a deer, a rooster, and a duck are painted in red with black outline on a white slip background. Central motif of a crane, a fish, and some foliage in red, within a scalloped roundel.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Arts of the Han Dynasty, The Asia Society, New York, February 7–March 26, 1961, no. 26.

Animals and Birds in Chinese Art, China Institute in America, New York, October 24, 1967–January 31, 1968.

Gallery Label

We know that this tray was not meant for practical use because the pigment was painted on after it was fired and was therefore easily rubbed off. It was instead a burial object, a substitute for a real tray made of a more expensive material such as lacquer. The motifs depicted on it symbolize hope for the continued prosperity of the deceased in the afterworld. They include four kneeling figures presenting offerings, interspersed with a ram, rooster, pig and duck, together with a cormorant and fish at the center.

Provenance

With Yung Ku Chai, Peiping (modern-day Beijing), China, by April 19, 1934 [1];

Purchased from Yung Ku Chai by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1934.

NOTES:

[1] Sickman's purchase record, Nelson-Atkins Archives, RG80-15 William Rockhill Nelson Trust Office Files, box 1a, Art Invoices/Vouchers 1934.

Published References

Laurence Sickman, Art and Architecture of China (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1956), pl. 22 (repro.).

Eleanor Von Edberg Consten, Das Alte China (Stuttgart: G. Kilpper, 1958), pl. 87 (repro.).

Fondazione “Giorgio Cini,” Enciclopedia universal dell’arte, vol. 1 (Venezia, Rome: Istituto per la Collaborazione Culturale, 1960), pl. 269 (repro.).

Massimo Pallottino, Encyclopedia of World Art, vol. 3 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960) pl. 231 (repro.).

Asia House, Arts of the Han Dynasty, exh. cat (New York: Asia House. 1961), 29 (repro.).

Henry Trubner, “Arts of the Han Dynasty” Catalogue of the Exhibition held at Asia House, February to March, 1961, Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, xiv (1960), 2-48, 29, fig. 26 (repro).

Oriental Art, Spring vol. viii, no. 1 (1962) 22, fig 3 (repro.).

Capolavori nei Secoli, no. 26 (1962), 29.

C. P. Fitzgerald et al., The Horizon History of China (New York: American Heritage Pub. Co., 1969), 80.

Reay Tannahill, Food in History (New York: Stein and Day, 1973), ill. 9 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 2, Art of the Orient, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 77 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 285 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 308 (repro.).

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.