Creative Commons License
Bird on Maple Branch with Morning Glories
(China )
The young Ren Bonian (Ren Yi) has contributed to this album a leaf with mannered brushwork and eccentric composition. Ren Bonian (Ren Yi) was later the most famous artist in Shanghai, known for both his paintings and his dissolute habits. For this album of sixteen leaves, a collector named Xu Hongting gathered sixteen paintings from leading Shanghai painters of the 1860s.
The facing text was written by Pan Kung-ming, a well-known Shanghai calligrapher, and dedicated to Mr. Xu Hongting. Pan Kung-ming has transcribed a part of the Han-dynasty Ode on the Wise Emperor Having Righteous Officials. "When a mediocre man rides a bad horse, he hurts the horse's mouth." The horse won't move. In the case of a famous horse and a famous charioteer, however, "one passes capitals and states so fast, it's as if one were standing still."
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Xu Hongting [Hsü Hung-t'ing] [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Liu Song-bu [Liu Sung-pu], Shanghai [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Panama Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, China Pavilion, 1915 [no. 285]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1915, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1992-1993 | Transcending Turmoil: Painting at the Close of China's Empire, 1796-1911. Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix; Denver Art Museum, Denver; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. |
Geographies
China, Shanghai (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 15 5/16 x W: 15 1/8 in. (38.9 x 38.4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
35.101J
