Butterflies and Peach Blossoms / Artist Unknown, China
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1980/1.220A
- Title
- Butterflies and Peach Blossoms
- Artist
- Artist Unknown, China
- Medium and Support
- fan mounted as an album leaf, ink and color on paper
- Object Creation Date
- 1832
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- China (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- China (nation)
- Inscription
- Signed by the artist: In 1832, I inscribed at Lai-yüan in Ch'ih-yang, Hsiao-t'ing. (Hsi Tao-kuang jen-ch'en (1832), t'i yü Ch'ih-yang chih Lai-yüan Hsiao-t'ing) One artist's seal follows the inscription: Hsiao-t'ing.
- Dimensions
- 18.1 cm x 54 cm (7 1/8 in. x 21 1/4 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- album leaf
- Secondary Object Classification
- Painting
- Secondary Object Type
- bird and flower
- Subject Matter
- The butterflies and peach blossoms on this fan would have made it a perfect wedding or engagement gift. In China the butterfly is a symbol of love and fidelity between a married couple. One popular folk tale recounts the story of a young male student and a maiden who fall in love but are forbidden to wed. The student pines away and eventually dies. On the way to her arranged wedding, the maiden stops to cry at his tomb when suddenly it opens and her first love emerges in the form of a butterfly. She, too, is transformed into a butterfly and they fly away together. The peach blossoms are a reference to a poem in the Book of Songs, or Shijing, China’s most ancient poetry anthology, compiled by the fifth century BCE.
- Secondary Keywords
- animals
- butterflies
- descriptors
- image-making processes and techniques
- medium
- plants
- processes and techniques
- processes and techniques by specific type
- the natural world
- writing (processes)
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 2980 x 1996
- File Size
- 792 KB
- Record
- 1980/1.220A
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1980-sl-1.220a/1980_1.220a.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1980-SL-1.220A:1980_1.220A.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Butterflies and Peach Blossoms; Artist Unknown, China." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1980-sl-1.220a/1980_1.220a.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.
