Description
This leaf is part of an important album of 50 drawings encompassing three subjects: processions of Daoist deities to the celestial spheres, the Ten Kings of Hell, and Erlang’s Campaign to Rid Mount Guankou of Dangerous Beasts (soushan tu 搜山圖).
This leaf belongs to a group of drawings of deities of the Daoist pantheon that inspired Chinese Buddhist iconography in many instances. Here we see the personified Nine Brilliant Constellations (Jiu yao 九曜). From right to left in the upper row are the sun and moon followed by three other stars: Venus as a goddess, Mars, and Yuebei. Proceeding in the lower row from right to left are Luohou, the comet Jidu, Ziqu, Jupiter, Mercury depicted as a female, and Saturn.
This leaf belongs to a group of drawings of deities of the Daoist pantheon that inspired Chinese Buddhist iconography in many instances. Here we see the personified Nine Brilliant Constellations (Jiu yao 九曜). From right to left in the upper row are the sun and moon followed by three other stars: Venus as a goddess, Mars, and Yuebei. Proceeding in the lower row from right to left are Luohou, the comet Jidu, Ziqu, Jupiter, Mercury depicted as a female, and Saturn.
Provenance
Wang Hui 王翬 [1632–1717]; Li Jiale 李嘉樂 [jinshi of 1863]; Zhu Hang 朱沆 [active 19th century]; Dr. F. R. (Fredrik Robert) Martin [1868–1933], Stockholm, Sweden, and Munich, Germany (1910–?); Mrs. L. M. Morris [20th century], England (?–1947); (Sotheby's, London, sale, 25 March 1947, lot 118, sold to Stephen Junkunc III) (March 25, 1947); István “Stephen" Junkunc III [1904–1978], by descent to his son Stephen Junkunc IV (1947–78); (Stephen Junkunc IV [b. 1937], Miami, FL, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1978–2004); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2004–)
Accession Number
2004.1.21
Medium
album, ink on paper
Dimensions
Painting: 34.1 x 38.3 cm (13 7/16 x 15 1/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou and Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange)