The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 13, 2025

Mandarin Ducks and Flowering Plants

Mandarin Ducks and Flowering Plants

early or mid-1830s
Location: not on view

Description

In Asian painting, ducks are usually shown in pairs because a male and female mate for life. They symbolize fidelity and tranquility. The presence of another duck is suggested here by the gesture of the bird's head. Notice the variety of brushstrokes and ink tones used to depict the duck's plumage.

The bird and flower genre is a popular theme in the paintings and prints of the Kelvin Smith Collection. Kachoga, or bird and flower pictures, became popular among collectors in Japan during the 19th century, due in large part to Hiroshige. Although better known for his landscape prints, Hiroshige made several exceptional prints of birds, plants, and animals that reveal his keen observation of nature.
  • ?-1942
    Henri Vever [1854–1942], France
    March 26, 1975
    (Sotheby & Co., London, UK, March 26, 1975, lot 362)
    1975-?
    (R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?-1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899-1998] given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sotheby's London. Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings and Fan Paintings, from the Henri Vever Collection: Part II. March 26, 1975.
    Cunningham, Michael R. “Painting the Poetry of the Natural World.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 279–291. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 286-287, fig. 9 www.jstor.org
  • A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
    Year in Review 1985. The Cleveland Museum of Art (1986).
  • {{cite web|title=Mandarin Ducks and Flowering Plants|url=false|author=Utagawa Hiroshige|year=early or mid-1830s|access-date=13 February 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.314