Sheep and shepherd-boy under a willow
date: label: Date
content: 1368-1644
label: Period
content: Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Li Song (傳)李嵩 (late 12th-early 13th century)
notes: label: Label
content: Three sheep graze in one corner as a shepherd plays under a shady willow tree. The inscribed title of the painting reads "sanyang kaitai," or "three sheep bring prosperity." The symbolism becomes more complex because sheep (yang) is a rebus for the Dao trigram with three long lines that represents spring. Because the Chinese New Year is associated with spring, sheep are commonly used to symbolize blessings for the coming New Year.
label: Provenance
content: To 1909
label: Provenance
content: Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, to 1909 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1909 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, in 1909 [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 Album List, pg. 29, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), Loon Gu Sai was possibly Lunguzhai, a store in the antiques district of Liulichang.
label: Provenance
content: 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: Beyond Brushwork: Symbolism in Chinese Painting (April 29 to November 26, 2006)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Loon Gu Sai (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: fishing
label: Topic
content: frog
label: Topic
content: herding
label: Topic
content: sheep
label: Topic
content: willow tree
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: F1909.244e
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): 24.6 x 24.7 cm (9 11/16 x 9 3/4 in)