Spring Festival on the River
date: label: Date
content: 18th century
label: Period
content: Qing dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Traditionally attributed to Qiu Ying 仇英 (ca. 1494-1552)
notes: label: Label
content: This long handscroll is a copy of a famous work attributed to the Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan (active early 12th century), which shows the imperial capital Bianliang (modern Kaifeng, Henan Province) during the annual spring festival. Many copies of Zhang's painting are attributed to Qiu Ying, including this scroll, which bears his forged signature. These later copies often contain scenes that are absent from Zhang's original composition, such as the section shown here, which depicts the palaces on Golden Shining Pond, an imperial park located just outside the western city wall.
label: Label
content: The emperors of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) used the pond both for naval exercises and festive regattas, especially on the occasion of the spring festival. Such an event is pictured here. A group of palace women punt their phoenix-headed craft under a rainbow bridge surmounted by a small kiosk, while a line of four other boats rowed by eunuchs proceeds in the opposite direction, urged on by flag-waving figures standing atop their dragon-headed prows. The pavilions are populated by beautifully attired palace ladies and their attendants engaged in various leisure activities.
label: Provenance
content: To 1915
label: Provenance
content: Edmund Backhouse (1873-1944), Peking, to 1915 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1915 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edmund Backhouse through T.J. Larkin, London, in 1915 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See also, Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 934, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Boating on a River (February 12 to August 14, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Work and Commerce: Everyday Life in Chinese Painting (June 19, 2004 to January 17, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting (September 29, 2002 to March 30, 2003)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Edmund Backhouse (1873-1944) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: landscape
label: Topic
content: spring
label: Topic
content: water
label: Topic
content: Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
label: Topic
content: festival
label: Topic
content: river
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: blue-and-green style
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1915.2
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 33.8 x 794.8 cm (13 5/16 x 312 15/16 in)