Gibbons Raiding an Egret's Nest
Taken literally, this painting is a dramatic vignette from nature, in which three gibbons raid an egret’s nest, capturing young birds as their mother circles above in anguish. Symbolically, the animals comprise a rebus, a visual pun in which a phrase is spelled out using pictures. In Chinese, the phrase “three gibbons capture egrets” (san yuan de lu) may also be read as “a triple first gains power,” a wish for success in the three levels of the imperial examinations. Originally mounted as a fan, this exquisite painting would have been the perfect gift for an aspiring scholar preparing for the exams.
Artwork Details
- 南宋？ 佚名 舊傳易元吉 三猿得鷺圖 團 扇頁
- Title: Gibbons Raiding an Egret's Nest
- Artist: Unidentified artist Chinese
- Artist: Formerly Attributed to Yi Yuanji (Chinese, active 11th century)
- Period: Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
- Date: late 12th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 9 1/2 × 9 in. (24.1 × 22.9 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913
- Object Number: 13.100.104
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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