Artwork Page for The Knickknack Peddler

Details / Information for The Knickknack Peddler

The Knickknack Peddler

嬰戲貨郎圖

1212

Li Song 李嵩

(Chinese, active c. 1190-c. 1230)
Culture
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Measurements
Image: 24.1 x 26 cm (9 1/2 x 10 1/4 in.); with mat: 33.3 x 40.5 cm (13 1/8 x 15 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1963.582
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

There is a skull, upside down, near the top of the left basket.

Description

The court artist Li Song from Hangzhou excelled in meticulous depictions of children, peddlers, and their various goods. Here, he captures a dramatic scene of children attacking a snake with a stick and stone. The peddler rushes toward the children, leaving his merchandise unattended. Painted during the reign of emperor Ningzong, the drama unfolding around vulnerable children may allude to Ningzong’s nine sons who died young, leaving him without a direct male descendant.
Roughly circular black ink and muted colors on brown silk finely detailing a man and children with light skin tone on the left and, right, two baskets connected with a pole between the tops, overflowing with goods. Left, the bearded man with nick-knacks fastened around his body and in his hair, leans forward, throwing his arms out as the surrounding children raise sticks or rocks, looking down at a snake.

The Knickknack Peddler

1212

Li Song

(Chinese, active c. 1190-c. 1230)
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)

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