A dark tan rectangular painted scroll depicts a robed woman sitting on the edge of a flat bed with her left leg up. She faces the viewer and holds a fan in her right hand and her face in her left.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A dark tan rectangular painted scroll depicts a robed woman sitting to the left. She sits on the edge of a flat bed with her left leg up. She faces the viewer and holds a fan in her right hand and her face in her left. She wears a belted brown sleeveless outer robe, a long sleeved white robe, pale pink pants, and a dark hat with small gold accessories. Her hair is pulled back behind her head. The bed has a circle pattern with a backboard with dark clouds on it.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1968.40
People
Anonymous, or Follower of Leng Mei 冷枚, Chinese (1703 - 1742)
Title
Beautiful Woman in Her Boudoir, Traditionally said to be a portrait of Madame Hedong (1618-1664) by Wu Zhuo (active 17th century)
Other Titles
Former Title: Portrait of a Lady, said to be Madame Hedong (1618-1664), Traditionally attributed to Wu Zhuo (17th century)
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
hanging scroll, painting
Date
mid-to-late 18th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Qing dynasty, 1644-1911
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/202370

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; with spurious signature reading "Wu Zhuo"
Dimensions
painting proper: H. 119.5 x W. 62.3 cm (47 1/16 x 24 1/2 in.)
overall mounting with roller ends and cord: H. 263.5 x W. 89.5 cm (103 3/4 x 35 1/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: 癸未秋華亭吳焯為河東夫人寫於拂水山莊

    Painted for Madame Hedong by Wu Zhuo of Huating in the autumn of 1643 at the Fushui Mountain Villa

    (Translated by Yuhua Ding)
  • seal: artist name in two seals; lower left after inscription; relief, square: 吳[Wu] 焯 [Zhuo]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Ex-Collection: Senator Theodore Francis Green, Rhode Island

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Asian Art Objects Fund
Accession Year
1968
Object Number
1968.40
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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.

Publication History

  • Jerome Silbergeld, ed., Bridges to Heaven: Essays on East Asian Art in Honor of Professor Wen C. Fong, P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art (Princeton, NJ), p. 387; p. 390, fig. 2
  • James Cahill, ed., The Restless Landscape: Chinese Painting of the Late Ming Period, exh. cat., University Art Museum, Berkeley (Berkeley, California, 1971), Cat. no. 82, pp. 148-149; illustrated on p. 159
  • Robert J. Maeda, "The Portrait of a Woman of the Late Ming-Early Ch'ing Period: Madame Ho-tung", Archives of Asian Art, Asia Society Museum (New York, 1973-1974), XXVII, pp. 46-52, p. 46, fig. 1
  • James Cahill, Chen Fongfong, and Julia M. White, Beauty Revealed : Images of Women in Qing Dynasty Chinese Painting, exh. cat., University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, CA, 2013), p. 10, fig. 1

Exhibition History

  • Deities, Emperors, Ladies, and Literati: Figure Painting from the Ming and Qing, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, 04/16/1987 - 06/14/1987
  • Chinese Painting and Decorative Arts from the Permanent Collection, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/17/1991 - 01/26/1992
  • Later Chinese and Japanese Figure Painting in Decorative Arts, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/22/1992 - 06/07/1992
  • Women and the Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/10/1994 - 03/05/1995
  • Art of the Fan: China, Korea, Japan, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/15/1995 - 10/08/1995
  • Paragons of Wisdom and Virtue: East Asian Figure Painting, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/15/1997 - 09/21/1997
  • Re-View: S228-230 (Asian rotation: 2), Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/23/2009 - 10/25/2009
  • Re-View: S228-230 (Asian rotation: 7) Art of the Fan: China, Korea, Japan, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/18/2011 - 05/05/2012
  • 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/09/2016 - 12/01/2016; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/29/2021 - 07/17/2022

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be 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