The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 29, 2020

Swift Bull from the Ten Swift Bulls

駿牛図　断簡

late 1200s-early 1300s

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185-1333)

Section of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper

Overall: 27.1 x 31.9 cm (10 11/16 x 12 9/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1952.286

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

We know the original scroll had ten bulls because a copy of the complete scroll exists.

Description

This work was once part of a handscroll depicting ten bulls in various postures. The whereabouts of nine of the ten bulls are known, and all have been remounted as hanging scrolls. The original scroll likely celebrated prized creatures used by aristocrats to pull their conveyances.

Provenance
?-1952
(Hollis & Company, Cleveland, OH and New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1952-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 913 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 276 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 276 archive.org
Masterpieces of Japanese Art; [Catalogue of the Exhibition] October 4 Through November 30, 1969, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1969. Reproduced: pl. 20
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 374 archive.org
Kita, Sandy. “The Bulls of Chōmyōji: A Joint Work by Sōtatsu and Mitsuhiro.” Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 47, no. 4, 1992, pp. 495–519. Reproduced: p. 505 www.jstor.org
"1992 Annual Report." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 6 (1993): 215-95. Mentioned: p. 247 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 11-July 13, 2004).

Masterpieces of Japanese Art. Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas (October 4-November 30, 1969)

Japanese Decorative Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art (August 30-October 15, 1961).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).

Honoring Sherman Lee. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 28-August 30, 2009).

Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1952.286