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Auspicious Birds and Flowers

Auspicious Birds and Flowers

Artist/Maker (Chinese)
Date17th–18th century
MediumHanging scroll, ink and color on silk
DimensionsOverall: 66 × 22 3/4 in. (167.6 × 57.8 cm)
Frame: 95 1/2 × 31 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (242.6 × 80 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Mary McClure (OC 1918)
Object number1945.49
Status
Not on view
More Information
Not only a beautiful, decorative image of flowers and birds, this painting is also a complex visual message filled with lucky symbols. The combination of white magnolia (yùlán 玉兰), crab apple blossoms (hǎitáng 海棠), and peonies (fùguìhuā 富贵花) suggests the phrase, “May your noble house be wealthy and honored” (yùtáng fùguì 玉堂富贵). The pair of magpies (xǐquè 喜鹊) symbolizes a happy marriage in that the first character of their name means “happiness,” so the pair suggests “double happiness,” a popular wedding motif.
Exhibition History
The Arts of Asia
  • Berea College, Berea, KY (October 1, 1962 - December 31, 1962 )
Arts of Nineteenth Century China
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 12, 1973 - February 8, 1973 )
Chinese Art: Culture and Context
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 2, 2002 - June 2, 2002 )
A Century of Asian Art at Oberlin: Chinese Paintings
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (June 6, 2017 - December 10, 2017 )
Collections
  • Asian
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.