Peacocks and Peonies

1820

Not on view

This pair of peacocks with peonies represents wealth and worldly power. The heroic posture of the peacock suggests it may have been an official commission from an influential samurai patron. Bunchō learned various Chinese painting styles when in the service of Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758–1829). Bunchō borrowed the pictorial vocabulary of birds and flowers from such painters as Sō Shiseki (1712–1786), who had studied the Chinese treatment of these subjects in Nagasaki.

Artwork Details

牡丹に孔雀図
Title: Peacocks and Peonies
Artist: Tani Bunchō (Japanese, 1763–1840)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1820
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 60 1/4 × 34 3/4 in. (153 × 88.2 cm)
Overall with mounting: 79 15/16 × 41 3/4 in. (203 × 106 cm)
Overall with knobs: 79 15/16 × 46 3/4 in. (203 × 118.8 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Object Number: 14.76.51
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Tani Bunchō
1791

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Hawk at sunrise, Jeong Hong-Rae 정홍래 鄭弘來 Korean, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Korea — Hawk at sunrise
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second half 18th century–first half 19th century

Collaborative painting and calligraphy by Hōitsu, Nanpo, Bunchō and others
, Tani Bunchō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Collaborative painting and calligraphy by Hōitsu, Nanpo, Bunchō and others
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1820

Shō, Bamboo wood, metal, Japanese — Shō
Japanese
19th century

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