Scenic attractions of West Lake 西湖清趣圖
date: label: Date
content: 14th century
label: Period
content: Late Yuan or early Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Li Song (傳)李嵩 (late 12th-early 13th century)
notes: label: Label
content: This painting illustrates the shore of the famed West Lake in the Southern Song (1127-1279) capital Lin'an (modern Hangzhou), which Marco Polo (ca. 1254-1324) once visited and appropriately described as follows:
label: Label
content: "The lake is provided with a great number of boats or barges, big and small, in which people take pleasure-trips…. They are roofed over with decks on which stand men with poles, which they thrust into the bottom of the lake, and thus propel the barges where they are bidden…. And indeed a voyage on this lake offers more refreshment and delectation than any other experience on earth."
label: Label
content: Translation from Robert Latham, The Travels of Marco Polo (New York: Penguin Books, 1958).
label: Label
content: To learn more about this and similar objects, visit http://www.asia.si.edu/SongYuan/default.asp Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy.
label: Provenance
content: To 1911
label: Provenance
content: Cheng Kuan, China, to 1911 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1911 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Cheng Kuan, in China, in 1911 [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. 753, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. 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 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: Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song dynasty (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: On the River (April 01, 1995 to January 23, 1996)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Cheng Kuan (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: water
label: Topic
content: boat
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: birds-eye view
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: Related Online Resources
content: Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy
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: F1911.209
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 32.9 x 1581.1 cm (12 15/16 x 622 1/2 in)