The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 28, 2023

Gathering at Lanting (Orchid Pavilion)

Purification at the Orchid Pavilion

1400s–1500s

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)

Carved cinnabar-red lacquer

Overall: 48.5 x 21 cm (19 1/8 x 8 1/4 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1974.72

Location

003 Special Exhibition Hall

Fun Fact

A stylized wave pattern represents water; land areas are covered in an overall diamond pattern.

Description

This lacquer panel, perhaps part of a piece of furniture, depicts the Gathering at Lanting in 353 CE that took place during the Spring Purification Festival, a day spent traditionally outside in nature. Here, cups of wine are set afloat on a winding stream as part of a poetry competition among the attendants.

By the Ming dynasty the painting theme Gathering at Lanting also appeared on lacquer, jade, and porcelain. The main figure and central motif, Calligrapher Wang Xizhi Watching Geese, has been moved toward the upper register of the composition.

Inscriptions

Inscription

大明宣德年製

Inscription Translation

Da Ming Xuande nianzhi (Made in the Ming dynasty, Xuande period)

Inscription

F. M. Mayer Christie's 24/5 June '74. 123

Inscription Remark

Oval sticker on back of the panel

Provenance
?–1974
Frederick M. Mayer [1899–1974], New York, NY, consigned to Christie's for sale
June 24–25, 1974
(Christie's, London, England, June 24–25, 1974 sale, lot no. 123, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1974–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Christie, Manson & Woods, London. The Frederick M. Mayer Collection of Chinese Art. June 24–25, 1974 sale. Lot 123.
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1974.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 3 (March 1975): 62–102. Mentioned: cat. no 183, p. 103 www.jstor.org
“Annual Report for 1974.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 6 (June 1975): 175–209. Reproduced: p. 189 www.jstor.org
Williams, Marjorie. Chinese Painting--an Escape from the "Dusty" World. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 27, p. 43
Exhibition history

Arts of China from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (February 27-April 10, 1983).

Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).

Chinese Paintings: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 7-April 5, 1981).

Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

Scholar's Studio. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19-December 17, 1989).

Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017).

China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta (Jiangnan). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.72