The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Cleansing Medicinal Herbs in the Stream on a Spring Day
1703
(Chinese, 1647–c. 1716)
Painting only: 36.2 x 132.5 cm (14 1/4 x 52 3/16 in.); Overall in heigh: 38.7 cm (15 1/4 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
In the pavilion are some of Shi Shenyi’s scholarly accoutrements: a stack of books, an antique zun 尊 (wine vessel), a brush holder, an ink stone, and a small chime.Description
A famous portraitist, Yu Zhiding here depicts the likeness of Shi Shenyi 史申義 (1661–1712), an official and poet. Master Shi, a sickly man, was deeply interested in medicinal science. The opening section of the scroll features a boy washing a fungus in fresh spring water, a basket of medicinal herbs by his side. Other servants carry a fan, a bundle of scrolls, and a cup of tea or hot wine. Master Shi sits in a bamboo grove, surrounded by fields of herbs. Returning swallows, pink peach blossoms, and blooming magnolia indicate spring, whereas the fungus conveys wishes for long life. The spring theme may express the artist’s wish for his friend’s recovery.- 1703–12Shi Shenyi 史申義 [1661–1712], Jiangdu 江都, Jiangsu province, China, by descent to his family1712–late 1700s or early 1800sShi family collection, Jiangdu, Jiangsu province, China,late 1700s–early 1800sZhang Yin 張崟 [1761–1829], Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, ChinaZaobao 皁保 [d. 1882]early 1900s?(A dealer in Liuli Chang 琉璃廠, Beijing, China, sold to Zhou Zhaoxiang)early 1900s–?Zhou Zhaoxiang 周肇祥 [1888–1954]Fujii Yurinkan Museum, Kyoto, Japan?–2000(James J. Freeman, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)2000–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHProvenance Footnotes1 Zhang Yin was a painter from Zhenjiang, a city fairly close to the Shi family's hometown of Jiangdu.2 Zaobao was a Manchu dignitary. His high-profiled career began with his jinshi degree in 1845 and ended with his role heading the Ministry of Justice in 1876.3 Zhou Zhaoxiang, a juren in the last Qing period, was also active in the government of the Republic of China. He was a scholar and poet in addition to excelling in landscape and flower-and-bird paintings. He was eager to educate painters in China and involved himself in cultural exchanges with Japan.
- Suzuki, Kei 鈴木敬. Chūgoku kaiga sōgō zuroku [中國繪畫總合圖錄= Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings], 第1卷. アメリカ·カナダ篇[= vol. 1 American and Canadian collections]. Tōkyō: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai, 1982. #A22-149Zhou, Zhaoxiang 周肇祥, Zhao Heng 趙珩, and Hai Bo 海波. Liulichang za ji 琉璃厂杂记. Beijing Shi: Beijing Yan shan chu ban she, 1995. Mentioned: pp. 17–18Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” October 6, 2000, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. Mentioned: p. 2 archive.orgChou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 425–430Scheier-Dolberg, Joseph. “A Portrait of Ambition: Yu Zhiding’s Thatched Cottage at the Western Stream / 志氣寫真：以禹之鼎的《西溪草堂圖》為例的個案研究.” Arts Asiatiques 72 (2017): 59–80. Comparative Material. www.jstor.orgScheier-Dolberg, Joseph. Yu Zhiding and the Envisioning of the Early Qing World. PhD dissertation, Columbia University, 2018. Comparative Material.
- Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017).Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 122). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 23-October 27, 2003).Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 122). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 22-April 22, 2002).
- {{cite web|title=Cleansing Medicinal Herbs in the Stream on a Spring Day|url=false|author=Yu Zhiding|year=1703|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2000.69