Precious Concubine Yang with Flute in a Pavilion
Artist
Unknown
CultureChinese
Date16th century
MediumHanging scroll; ink and color on silk
DimensionsImage: 48 1/2 × 17 7/8 inches (123.19 × 45.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-1475
SignedArtist unknown (signature: Zhiyuan)
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionLady in pagoda with flute in left hand. Two attendants in lower left. Brown background.Exhibition HistoryBirger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, KS. Exhibition. November 1957-January 1959.
The lady in this
painting may be Precious Concubine Yang (Yang Guifei), a famous woman in
Chinese history. A servant holds a covered tray of lychees, her favorite fruit.
As fresh lychees were only grown in southern China, the Minghuang emperor of
the Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.) express shipped them to the capital in the
north to please his beloved concubine. Because of the tremendous attention that
her beauty received, Yang was blamed for causing the emperor to neglect his
duties.
Pi Wen-hua, Beijing;
Purchased from Pi Wen-hua through Laurence Sickman by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.
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.
