id:			94605
accession number:	1915.110
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.110
updated:		2023-08-26 11:09:30.096000

Children at Play, 1508. Xia Kui (Chinese, active c. 1405–1445). Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk; painting: 62.5 x 113.7 cm (24 5/8 x 44 3/4 in.); overall with knobs: 214 x 137 cm (84 1/4 x 53 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Charles L. Freer 1915.110

title:				Children at Play
title in original language:	嬰戲圖
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1508
creation date earliest:		1508
creation date latest:		1508
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Charles L. Freer
copyright:			

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culture:	China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
technique:	hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
department:	Chinese Art
collection:	ASIAN - Hanging scroll
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Xia Kui (Chinese, active c. 1405–1445)  - artist

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measurements: Painting: 62.5 x 113.7 cm (24 5/8 x 44 3/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 214 x 137 cm (84 1/4 x 53 15/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	正德三年七月夏葵寫 
[Zhengde san nian qi yue Xia Kui xie]
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		A Study Exhibition of Chinese Textiles of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods
	opening date:   1947-12-12T05:00:00
	<i>A Study Exhibition of Chinese Textiles of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 1947-October 9, 1948).

	title:		Stories From Storage
	opening date:   2021-02-07T05:00:00
	<i>Stories From Storage</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Charles L. Freer [1854–1919], Detroit, MI, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: ?-1915
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1915-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
In the foreground on the right are three boys playing a kind of blind man’s bluff.

digital description:
Sixteen children engage in scholarly, religious, and military activities, representing the popular “one hundred boys” theme expressing the wish for abundant, successful male offspring. Such paintings conveying auspicious wishes were often displayed during the New Year festival season. <br><br>Two older boys wear small crowns with red tassels. Another child with a mask holds a brush in one hand, a rice measure in the other. He stands on a low table imitating Kuixing, the God of Examinations and servant to the God of Literature.

wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.110/1915.110_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.110/1915.110_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1915.110/1915.110_full.tif