The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Landscape

1644–1911

China, Qing dynasty

(1644-1911)
soapstone
Overall: 15.3 x 22.3 x 9.6 cm (6 x 8 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.)
Worcester R. Warner Collection 1917.25
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A waterfall plummets down the cliff by the temple and then flows smoothly down to join the river at the front of the landscape scene.

Description

A mountain scenery surrounded by water and fish is meticulously carved out of soapstone, with a pond, bridge, waterfall, and temple front in its center. The unidentified figure scene on the left includes an ox and a man wearing what appears to be a Korean hat. A Buddha figure hidden in the depth of the temple can be glimpsed from the backside. The inscribed pillar on the right reads “Stonegate Cave to Heaven (shimen dongtian)”. Indentations all over the stone suggest that the miniature mountain was once adorned with precious stones and metal, presumably representing an earthly paradise to which one could escape in one’s mind and imagination.
  • ?–1917
    Worcester R. Warner [1846–1929], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1917–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
    Chaekgeori: Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 5-November 5, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Landscape|url=false|author=|year=1644–1911|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1917.25