Playing Chess in an Elegant Garden

Dateearly 17th century

MediumHanging scroll; ink and color on silk

DimensionsOverall: 86 3/4 × 26 3/4 × 1 inches (220.35 × 67.95 × 2.54 cm)
Image: 48 3/4 × 23 7/8 inches (123.83 × 60.64 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman

Object number2023.39.2

Signedartist's signature: “何龍” (He Long), and his three seals, “何龍,” “何龍,” and “玄之又玄” (Xuan zhi you xuan, Deep deeper yet, from Laozi).

Inscribed燕交飛處柳煙低 Where swallows fly together, willow mists are low, 玉窗紅子闘棋時 chess pieces at the jade window fight on the board. Translated by Hiroshi Kawasaki (Osaka) and Howard Rogers (Hawai'i).

On View

Not on view

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

Chinese

DescriptionThe composition of this painting is diagonally distributed into two halves, with the group of figures placed in the lower right half. The scene focuses on two women playfully engage on a weiqi chess game, with the companion of two other women and a girl. The game takes place in a scenic view of a garden. Rugged rocks in various shades of azurite erect at the yard, a pavilion partially reveals from the trees, and the silhouettes of distant mountains drift amidst the mists. The inscription appears on the top left. This painting is paired with “Teaching Parrots to Speak,” by the same artist. The pair correspond to each other in the positions of motifs and inscriptions.Published References

Published References

Catalog of the collection from Viscount AKIMOTO Okitomo (1857-1917) 秋元子爵家御蔵器入札. Tokyo: Tokyo Art Society, May 14, 1917 [in Japanese]

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