Visit of the Queen Mother of the West

Description The Queen Mother of the West (Hsi Wang Mu) has paid but a single visit to earth, in 110 BC, when Emperor Wu Ti of the Han dynasty received her. She is descending in the form of a peacock, as the emperor and empress await her on a special platform. In the Queen Mother's paradise grows the orchard of the peaches of immortality, which ripen once every 3,000 years. She is said to have brought some of these peaches with her on her visit. The painting can be understood as an expression of one's wish for a long life and immortality. Peach trees are growing at the base of the platform, where cranes, symbols of longevity, can also be seen. Spurious signature and seals of Qiu Ying (1494-1552).

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
5/12/1995	Examination	examined for condition
6/01/2000	Examination	examined for condition
6/20/2000	Examination	examined for exhibition

Provenance Panama-Pacific International Exposition, China Pavilion, San Francisco, 1915; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1915, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Inscription] Lower right; [Seal] Lower right; [Number] On sticker: 359

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1915