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Egypt, Old Kingdom (2647–2124 BCE), Dynasties 6–8
bone
Diameter: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
This miniature "oinochoe," known more particularly as a "chous" ("choes" in the plural), dates to the last decade of the 5th century BCE. As is most often the fashion with small "choes," this example features scenes of children, their accoutrements, and their play. This "chous" depicts two boys. One rides on a goat; the other stands nearby holding out a bunch of grapes to his companion. Both boys are crowned, and the standing boy, who also holds a toy cart on one shoulder, is adorned with protective amulets.
Greek
3 9/16 x 2 3/4 in. (9.1 x 7 cm)
medium: terracotta, wheel made; red-figure with white paint
style: Attic
culture: Greek
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Durga is the name of the goddess who personifies the sum total of the powers of all the male gods combined. When she vanquishes the fierce buffalo demon named Mahisha, she is described as having many arms, each holding a different weapon: bow and arrow, trident, discus, shield, sword, mace, and the conch shell that sounds the start of battle. The horizontal lines on her arms are sectarian markings. At the moment depicted in this painting, she has succeeded in beheading the buffalo demon and shooting arrows into his true form that climbs from its neck. Artists in the foothills of the western Himalayas, where this work was made, depicted Durga’s mount as a tiger—lions and tigers had synonymous meaning throughout India as emblems of shakti, or divine creative energy.
India, Pahari Hills, Nurpur school, early 18th Century
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Overall: 15.5 x 21.2 cm (6 1/8 x 8 3/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
The royal feast is set in a green landscape dotted with flowers and blossoming bushes against a gold sky with wisps of blue and white clouds. The group of figures in the upper left includes a falconer, horses, attendants, and two hunting cheetahs, while servers transport food and drink in gold and ceramic vessels, some presumably Chinese blue and white porcelain. Possibly this banquet was offered after a courtly hunt, a prestigious symbol of power and wealth. Among the groups of men sitting on elaborate carpets are three Chinese officials, identifiable by their black hats, kneeling together on the ground. Although their presence indicates the presence of foreign cultures within the Timurid court, the painting also reveals that not all are welcome to the feast; in the bottom half of the page a guard wields a stick to drive a group of men out of the garden.
Iran, Shiraz, Timurid period (1370-1501)
Opaque watercolor, ink, gold, and silver on paper
Overall: 32.7 x 22 cm (12 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.); Image: 26.1 x 20.7 cm (10 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.)
Did you know...
The painting on this folio is the first half of a double-page frontispiece now detached from a <em>Shahnama </em>(Book of Kings) manuscript. CMA 1956.10 is the left half of the frontispiece.
John L. Severance Fund
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Extracts from Alfred Jacob Miller’s original text, which accompanied his images of Native Americans, are included below for reference.
"The scene in the sketch presents something of a bird's eye view of the great chain of Wind River Mountains, throwing up their huge heads against a warm evening sky, their lofty pinnacles crested with snow and reflecting light with the brilliancy of burnished silver;- Across the green plateau to the right, the Caravan is seen winding its slow length along. In front of this, wild and rough rocks covered with a primeval growth of hemlocks, firs, and pines jut out into the river that is sweeping by, fed by the melting snows of the mountians. In the immediate foreground some Trappers are galloping to join a party who are on the extreme end of the bluff, looking at the 'promised land' which forms their mountian home; for at the base of these, they expect to meet large bands of their brother Trappers with whom they promise themselves a grand carouse and drinking bout;- in order to repay themselves for the abstinence they are compelled to observe in a military and well-governed camp." A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837).
In July 1858 William T. Walters commissioned 200 watercolors at twelve dollars apiece from Baltimore born artist Alfred Jacob Miller. These paintings were each accompanied by a descriptive text, and were delivered in installments over the next twenty-one months and ultimately were bound in three albums. Transcriptions of field-sketches drawn during the 1837 expedition that Miller had undertaken to the annual fur-trader's rendezvous in the Green River Valley (in what is now western Wyoming), these watercolors are a unique record of the closing years of the western fur trade.
8 9/16 x 12 7/16 in. (21.8 x 31.6 cm)
medium: watercolor on paper
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This female bust is part of a series of three in the museum's collection. The identity of the figures has been speculated by scholars but without resolution. Because this and the other female busts in the series do not retain their attributes, it is difficult to know their original purpose. It is possible that they may have once formed a group of female saints from the predella of a large altarpiece. Since the sculpture is not carved in the round, this hypothesis has merit. Another recent proposal is that this and the other sculptures may be from a series of female busts representing the wise and foolish virgins referenced in Matthew 25:1-13, a parable by Jesus admonishing listeners to be spiritually prepared.
Austria, 15th century
Painted and gilded lindenwood
without base: 47 cm (18 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund
The striking, large-scale figure shown on this tunic has an elaborate, monkey-like tail as well as head appendages that mark the creature as supernatural. This tunic, a relatively rare type, was made not on a loom but rather by working the yarns into loops with a needle. It is made entirely with camelid fiber, which can readily be dyed in a range of vivid colors. The fiber comes from one of the four camels (camelids) native to the Andes Mountains—the alpaca and llama, both domesticated, and the wild guanaco and vicuña. On the coast, it represents a prestige import.
Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site?, Paracas people
looped camelid fiber
Average: 94 x 82.6 cm (37 x 32 1/2 in.)
Did you know...
The red dyes in this tunic likely come from madder root.
The Norweb Collection
These two paintings are possibly by Sesshū Tōyō. They once flanked a central scroll with an ink landscape. The unbalanced nature of the compositions, however, suggests they may be images recycled from larger paintings. The one with sweet osmanthus and hibiscus is an autumn scene, the other is a summer scene with daylilies and gardenias. Folding screens often contrast two seasons or depict all four across a single pair of screens. Sesshū’s works were sufficiently prized that repurposing them in fragmentary form to display in an alcove of a luxurious room would not be an unusual choice.
Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Two hanging scrolls from a triptych; ink and color on silk
Overall: 117 x 58 cm (46 1/16 x 22 13/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
In this portrait, the Ōbaku school Buddhist monk Duli Xingyi (born Tai Li, 1596–1672), whose name is pronounced Dokuryū Shōeki in Japanese, sits upon a woven mat holding a ceremonial scepter known as a <em>ruyi</em>, or <em>nyoi</em> in Japanese. Above his head is an insciption he added to the painting in 1671, the year before his death. It may be translated to read: <br><br>Contemplative emptiness: the moon suspended over the village at midnight. Suddenly my soul is startled by the howl of an ape. Who could know that it would arouse me beyond my senses, and bring me an inner vision from Mt. Sumeru.<br>(translated by Stephen Addiss and Kwan S. Wong) <br><br>Originally from what is now the city of Hangzhou in China, Duli emigrated to Japan in 1653, where he took monastic vows. His skills in calligraphy and seal carving were formidable. Painter Kita Genki combined Chinese brush styles he learned in Nagasaki with Western painting techniques to capture Duli's likeness.
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Painting: 111.4 x 50.1 cm (43 7/8 x 19 3/4 in.); Mounted: 211.8 x 63.8 cm (83 3/8 x 25 1/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
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This is the first of two albums boxed together with an external title reading <em>Famous Early Modern Calligraphers and Painters. </em>It begins with a lengthy inscription in Chinese by the Japanese artist Rai Sanyō (1780–1832) dated to 1817, and concludes with another, undated, by Tanomura Chikuden (1777–1835). In between, there are undated poems in Chinese by other Japanese artists, Nukina Kaioku (1778–1863), Rai Shunpū (1753–1825), Rai Kyōhei (1756–1834), and Kan Sazan (1748–1827), as well as paintings by Okada Hankō (1782–1845), Totoki Baigai (1749-1804), Nakabayashi Chikutō (1776-1853), Uragami Shunkin (1779-1846), Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841), Tsubaki Chinzan (1801-1854), and Nukina Kaikoku. While most of the paintings are not dated, those that are indicate that the group was painted over a large span of time, rather than on a single occasion. Nakabayashi Chikutō’s Chinese hermit treads a waterfall-dominated landscape dated 1808, while Nukina Kaikoku’s solitary Chinese boatman beneath a flock of geese is from 1849. The paintings are landscapes or floral images and follow recognizable Chinese brush methods transmitted to Japan through a variety of methods including printed manuals. The plants have symbolic meanings, sometimes related to their names in Chinese, which may be homonyms for terms like success or achievement. They often recall human qualities or desires, such as hardiness or longevity. The calligraphers and painters whose works are represented in the album were all deeply interested in Chinese culture. They were especially attracted to the idea they found in Chinese society of a community of educated friends who shared works in prose, poetry, and painting among one another through correspondence or gatherings. The ideal was a group who were not professional artists, creating works for clients, but a group who produced works to nurture friendships and cultivate their own minds. The cover of the album has a title slip reading <em>Album of Precious Works</em>, and is signed Chikutei Fu or Kan (竹釡 or possibly a much abbreviated 鍳), with a round, red seal reading Chikutei. This is a pseudonym used most likely by a Japanese person interested in calligraphy composed in Chinese and paintings with Chinese styles and themes. The name evokes a pavilion set in a bamboo grove, an image strongly associated with China in Japan. It is also likely that this person assembled the works into the album. Pseudonyms of this type were and continue to be used by those engaged in cultural pursuits such as poetry composition, painting, and collecting art. Having such a name takes one out of the normal business of life, and transports one to a space of creativity and aesthetic appreciation.
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
One of a pair of folding-albums; ink and color on silk and paper
Album, closed: 31 x 21 cm (12 3/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
Gift of Mary B. Lee, C. Bingham Blossom, Dudley S. Blossom III, Laurel B. Kovacik, and Elizabeth B. Blossom, in memory of Elizabeth B. Blossom
This whimsical, saddled, and fully harnessed but riderless horse was part of a larger curtain or wall hanging of a type popular in the late 5th and early 6th century.
Curtains and wall hangings were used in private homes, as well as in public and religious buildings, to prevent drafts, divide spaces, and provide privacy. The tapestry weave of this piece is ideal for such textiles, as it produces a design that can be viewed from either side.
The complete hanging likely would have had many identical roundels (one is in the Cleveland Museum of Art) in staggered rows on a background interspersed with baskets and birds. These designs are traditionally Egyptian, while the roundel borders of heart or rose petal chains and the stylized trees are adapted from imported Sassanian silks.
H: 16 1/8 x W:17 5/16 x D: 1/16 in. (41 x 44 x 0.1 cm)
medium: wool
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.