Artwork Page for Hunting on Horses

Details / Information for Hunting on Horses

Hunting on Horses

騎馬狩獵

c. 1600s–1700s

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to Qing dynasty

(1644–1911)
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Measurements
Painting: 276 x 147.5 cm (108 11/16 x 58 1/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 380 x 184 cm (149 5/8 x 72 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1915.680
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This falconry scene includes one white hunting dog and four trained hunting birds.

Description

This large-scale hanging scroll depicts a party hunting for waterfowl along a riverbank in the springtime. The leader is distinguished from the other five mounted hunters by his purple robe with golden dragon patterns and his white horse with a red tassel. He and his horse maintain still, dignified postures as a small white falcon captures one of the wild geese.

Equestrian pursuits and hunting were particularly popular among the Khitan (also spelled “Qidan”) and Jurchen, ethnic groups who lived along China’s northeastern border. Their nomadic lifestyle intrigued the Chinese court and inspired Chinese artists to develop a painting genre showing them hunting.
A hanging scroll depicts men with light to medium-light skin tones hunting on horseback among a landscape sparsely outlined in black against a yellow-brown background. Most have horses in brown shades and wear green, orange, or blue robes. One man wears purple, riding a white horse. Three mounted men and a white dog surround a person who has dismounted in the lower half. Two race ahead in the upper half, one with a white bird on his arm, the other throwing his arms in the air toward two flying, white birds.

Hunting on Horses

c. 1600s–1700s

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

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