From the Harvard Art Museums’ collections One of the Ten Kings of Hell

after-treatment © President and Fellows of Harvard College

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Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1966.89.1
Title: One of the Ten Kings of Hell
Classification: Paintings
Work Type: hanging scroll, painting
Date: 15th - 16th century
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Ming dynasty, 1368-1644
Culture: Chinese

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk
Dimensions: painting proper: H. 139.5 × W. 94.2 cm (54 15/16 × 37 1/16 in.)
overall mounting, including roller ends and suspension cord: H. 245.9 × W. 122.8 cm (96 13/16 × 48 3/8 in.)

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number: A 10-013a (Suzuki Kei)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Clifford A. Kaye
Accession Year: 1966
Object Number: 1966.89.1
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu; The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Label Text: Buddhist Art: The Later Tradition (1993) , written 1993
As conceived by the Chinese, the courts of the Kings of Hell resemble those of Chinese magistrates. The kings wear dragon robes secured by a belt ornamented with jade plaques, and they sit behind a magistrate’s table while presiding over the court, just as Chinese officials did. Their assistants and jailors, however, are demonlike creatures that sometimes display animal heads. The courts are set in Chinese palatial surroundings with red walls and tiled floors; the cloud bands at the top of each painting indicate that the scenes belong to the netherworld rather than to the human world, however. An identical inscription, now much worn, at the top of each of these scrolls states that this set—which originally comprised ten paintings—belonged to the western quarters of a temple called Pei-yao-wang. I tmight be pointed out that west was the direction associated with death and rebirth.

Publication History

Suzuki Kei, Chugoku kaiga sogo zuroku, Amerika Kanada hen (Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections), University of Tokyo Press (Tokyo, Japan, 1982), pp. I-55 and I-432, no. A 10-013

Exhibition History

Chinese Painting and Decorative Arts from the Permanent Collection, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/17/1991 - 01/26/1992

32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/29/2017 - 05/31/2018

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu