Birds, Plum Blossoms, and Bamboo in Winter
date: label: Date
content: 16th century
label: Period
content: Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Ma Lin (active early to mid-13th century)
notes: label: Label
content: Set among a few scattered stems of snow-dusted bamboo, a large flowering plum tree is the main focus of this painting. The plum generally blooms around the Chinese lunar new year in mid- to late January, when most other vegetation lies dormant. All at once, blossoms sprout from supple shoots along the dark, leafless branches, signaling the imminent arrival of spring. Though its delicate flowers survive only briefly in the harshness of winter, the tree may live for many years, its limbs and trunk slowly growing into oddly configured gnarls and angles.
label: Label
content: In Chinese tradition, plum blossoms came to symbolize purity of character, courage in the face of adversity, the transience of beauty, and the rebirth of hope. From early times, poets in China played off these various associations and the blossoming plum gradually evolved into a favorite metaphor for the impoverished scholar and recluse from society. In times of turbulence and uncertainty, it was also used as an emblem of the nation as a whole.
label: Label
content: A spurious signature of the thirteenth-century court painter Ma Lin has been added on the lower trunk of the plum tree, while the inscription in the upper right corner, ostensibly by the late-Ming calligrapher Wang Duo (1592-1652), is also a forgery. This is most likely a work by a sixteenth-century painter associated with the Ming dynasty court.
label: Provenance
content: To 1916
label: Provenance
content: Pang Yuanji (1864-1949), Shanghai, China, to 1916 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1916 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Pang Yuanji, in New York, in 1916 [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 Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1136, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, P'ang Catalogue: Antique Famous Chinese Paintings Collected by P'ang Lai Ch'en, vol. 1, no. 50. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1119, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
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: Seasons: Chinese Flowers (July 2, 2011 to January 8, 2012)
label: Exhibition History
content: Three Friends of Winter: Pine, Bamboo, and Plum in Chinese Painting (August 12, 2001 to February 3, 2002)
label: Exhibition History
content: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting (II) (May 9, 1993 to May 31, 1994)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Bird and Flower Painting (January 27, 1986 to June 30, 1986)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Flower Paintings (March 18 to September 22, 1983)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Pang Yuanji 龐元濟 (1864-1949) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: tree
label: Topic
content: flower
label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: plum blossom
label: Topic
content: snow
label: Topic
content: China
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: F1916.478
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Hanging scroll mounted on panel; ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 165.9 x 106 cm (65 5/16 x 41 3/4 in)