Mandarin orange
Qi Baishi Chinese
Not on view
This simple ink play by Qi Baishi evokes the squat form of a mandarin orange through a few casual flicks of the brush. Much of the rest of the composition is taken up with the artist’s inscription:
Greatly Auspicious! Playfully painted by Old Man Jieshan.
大吉。借山老人戱。
Qi’s inscription confirms the identity of the fruit, as the character for “auspicious” 吉 (ji) is close to the form and sound of the character for mandarin orange 桔 (ju).
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