The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 9, 2026

A painted clamshell, a basin with a curved interior, depicts hunting scenes in muted red and dark brown pigments. At the center, two horse-drawn chariots move toward our right. Smaller figures of leaping dogs and running deer are scattered around them, including two deer along the upper edge. The paint is worn and fragmented, revealing the smooth, pale surface of the shell beneath the faded figures.

The Hunt

300–100 BCE

China, Warring States period

(475–221 BCE) to Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–8 CE)
Painted clamshell
Overall: 7.5 x 9 cm (2 15/16 x 3 9/16 in.)
Gift of Homer H. Tielke Jr., in honor of the fortieth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Homer H. Tielke Sr. 1957.141
Location: 241A Arts of Ancient China

Did You Know?

A four-horse chariot and a two-horse chariot are both depicted in this hunting scene.

Description

The inside of this shell preserves the earliest, extant figure paintings in Chinese history.
  • Samuel Hubert Minkenhof [1879–1956], Amsterdam, Netherlands, and New York, NY
    ?–1957
    (C.T. Loo 盧芹齋 [1880–1957], Paris, France, and New York, NY, purchased with funds from Homer H. Tielke Jr. [1918–2004] for gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1957–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Vassar College. Chinese Painting: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Exhibition May 22 to June 10, 1940. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Gallery, 1940. Mentioned: cat. nos. 1, 2, pl. 1
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 812 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. "Early Chinese Painted Shells with Hunting Scenes." Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 11 (1957): 69–75. Mentioned: pp. 69–75; Reproduced: p. 71, figs. 1a, 2a, 3a www.jstor.org
    Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959. Mentioned: cat. no. 1
    Trubner, Henry. Arts of the Han Dynasty. New York: Chinese Art Society of America, Asia House, 1961. Mentioned: cat. no. 85
    Chinese Art: An Exhibition of Paintings, Jades, Bronzes and Ceramics: Being a Contribution Made by Smith College Museum of Art to the College Interim Session, 1962. Northampton, MA: The Smith College Museum of Art, 1962. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 1, pl. 1
    Sullivan, Michael. The Birth of Landscape Painting in China. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962. Mentioned: p. 19
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Mentioned and Reproduced: color pl. 6
    Li, Dun Jen. The Ageless Chinese, A History. New York: Scribner, 1965. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 114
    Toynbee, Arnold, and Elsé Glahn. Half the World: The History and Culture of China and Japan. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 37, pl. 12
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    Chinese Art. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA (organizer) (January 8-26, 1962).
    The Arts of the Han Dynasty. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 7-March 26, 1961).
    1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959).
    Chinese Painting. Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY (May 22-June 10, 1940).
  • {{cite web|title=The Hunt|url=false|author=|year=300–100 BCE|access-date=09 September 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1957.141