The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 23, 2024
Hunting on Horses
c. 1600s–1700s
(1368-1644) - Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
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.)
Location: not on view
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.
- This painting was recently remounted in 2019 due to its poor condition. Because of the dimension of this hanging scroll, it was challenging to mount this painting in a hanging scroll format.
The main goal was to stabilize the structure of the silk painting. The original condition was poor with undulation when seen with the naked eye. This painting was suffering from many creases with old patches and reinforced strips when viewed through the transparent light, resulting in splits and tears in the paintings. Some sharp creases of the painting silk were in danger. There were scattered small losses previously filled with silk patches and reinforcing strips underneath when viewed with transmitted light. A whitish film covering most of the surface of the painting can be seen with the naked eye, which might be a residue of the paste from the previous treatment process. The knobs were missing; the upper border silk was separating from the main body of the mounting; the mounting silk was separating; and the final lining was delaminating.
After remounting, the painting is in a stable condition with a single-color hanging-scroll format. During the treatment of removing the lining paper from the back, the pigment applied on the verso was found on the horses and figures. The old lining paper on those areas was then kept and thinned to half layer to protect the pigment. Due to the dimension of the hanging scroll, the remounted painting is now rolled with a futomaki roller to increase the diameter of the roll. The larger the diameter of the roller, the more protected the scroll. The pigment was repeatedly consolidated during the treatment process. The medium is stable. Before the treatment, there were many splits and losses. The new condition has fills in silk that were artificially aged before application. The fills were then toned with traditional Chinese colors to match the surrounding tone, minimizing the distraction when viewing. - ?–1915(Dr. John Calvin Ferguson [1866–1945], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1915–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Sung, Hou-mei. Galloping through dynasties. Milano, Italy: Skira; Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Art Museum, 2022. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 40–41, cat. no. 17
- Galloping through Dynasties: Decoding Chinese Horse Painting. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (October 7, 2022-January 1, 2023) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/galloping-through-dynasties/.
- {{cite web|title=Hunting on Horses|url=false|author=|year=c. 1600s–1700s|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1915.680