Bramble-leaf Rose

Chen Banding Chinese
dated 1931
Not on view
In literati style, Chen has combined word and image to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. His subject is the bramble rose with "thorns like the teeth of a saw": its image is picked out in staccato brushwork and its qualities are noted in Chen's tight hand. His advice to gardeners is:

Growing at the side of the path,
They often catch your clothes.
Border them with fence and grass
And you easily pass among them.

[Trans. adapted from Ellsworth et al, Later Chinese Painting]

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 近代 陳半丁 荼蘼 扇面
  • Title: Bramble-leaf Rose
  • Artist: Chen Banding (Chinese, 1876–1966)
  • Date: dated 1931
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on alum paper
  • Dimensions: 7 1/2 x 21 7/16 in. (19.1 x 54.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
  • Object Number: 1986.267.282
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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