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2004.19.74 - Southern Inspection Tour

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Object Typehandscroll ArtistWang Hui Date Made1691-1698

Item Details

Object Typehandscroll ArtistWang Hui Date Made1691-1698
Accession Number 2004.19.74 Title Southern Inspection Tour Alternate Title Stopping Point along the Grand Canal on the Nanxuntu (The Southern Inspection Tour [of the Kangxi Emperor]), probably Jinshansi (Gold Mountain Buddhist temple), Zhenjiang Category paintings Object Type handscroll Artist Wang Hui Date Made 1691-1698 Place Made China Culture Chinese Period Qing 17th century Materials ink and colour on silk Measurements sheet: 66.5 cm x 1431.3 cm; image: 57.6 cm x 524.3 cm Description
This rare painting is related to the set of 12 Southern Inspection Tour handscrolls depicting the Kangxi emperor’s second tour of southern China in 1689, produced by court painter Wang Hui (1632-1717) in…
This rare painting is related to the set of 12 Southern Inspection Tour handscrolls depicting the Kangxi emperor’s second tour of southern China in 1689, produced by court painter Wang Hui (1632-1717) in collaboration with workshop artists. The scene depicts a Buddhist temple complex situated along the banks of the Grand Canal. The location is probably in Jinshansi, the Gold Mountain Buddhist temple in Zhenjiang. Inside the stone walls of the complex, an antiques market bustles with activity. Officials wearing yellow robes and palace servants in tasseled court caps examine and purchase porcelain, paintings, and bronze antiquities. The Green Standard Banner of the imperial army is positioned just outside the walls of the temple complex, as if securing the space. The gem-like color and fine brushwork has led some scholars to believe that this scroll may have been intended as a gift for one of the local officials who hosted the imperial entourage during their tour. Alternatively, other scholars believe this may have been a preparatory painting for compositions in other scrolls in the Southern Tour series, which no longer exist.
Credit Line Gift of Sandy and Cécile Mactaggart

Citation

Page Citation for 2004.19.74 - Southern Inspection Tour

Page Citation

"2004.19.74 - Southern Inspection Tour, Mactaggart Art Collection." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/21-19139. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Publications

Author Vollmer, John and Jacqueline Simcox
Title Emblems of Empire: Selections from the Mactaggart Art Collection
Publication Date 2009