{
"data": {
"id": 152829,
"accession_number": "1985.71.5",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": " (\u96d1\u756b\u5716\u518a): Cat and Butterfly, 1788. Min Zhen (Chinese, 1730\u2013after 1788). Album leaf, ink on paper; sheet: 29 x 18.4 cm (11 7/16 x 7 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1985.71.5",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Cat and Butterfly",
"series_in_original_language": "\u96d1\u756b\u5716\u518a",
"creation_date": "1788",
"creation_date_earliest": 1788,
"creation_date_latest": 1788,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)"
],
"technique": "album leaf, ink on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Chinese Art",
"collection": "ASIAN - Album leaf",
"type": "Painting",
"measurements": "Sheet: 29 x 18.4 cm (11 7/16 x 7 1/4 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"sheet": {
"height": 0.29,
"height_inch": 11,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.4375,
"width": 0.184,
"width_inch": 7,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.25
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "Six seals appearing on the leaves:\n\nMin Zhen \u9594\u8c9e; Zheng zhai \u6b63\u9f4b; Qingqiao \u9752\u6a4b; Zhen \u8c9e; Liao tang \u84fc\u5858; Min Zhen zhi yin \u9594\u8c9e\u4e4b\u5370\u3002",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": 1
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 521183,
"title": "When Salt was Gold: Yangzhou, City of Riches and Art",
"description": "When Salt was Gold: Yangzhou, City of Riches and Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 12-November 5, 2023).",
"opening_date": "2023-05-12T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Gallery 122 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 29, 1999\u2013January 24, 2000).",
"opening_date": "1999-10-29T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Gallery 122 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 15, 2000\u2013March 26, 2001).",
"opening_date": "2000-11-15T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Daili Shanren \u6234\u7b20\u5c71\u4eba [active late 1700s]",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1788\u2013?",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "Ni Yun \u502a\u8018 [d. 1864]",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "Yan Shiqing \u984f\u4e16\u6e05 [1873\u20131929]",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": 3
},
{
"description": "Xu Xiaopu \u5f90\u5c0f\u5703 [1887\u20131961]",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": 4
},
{
"description": "Ding Nianxian \u4e01\u5ff5\u5148 [1906\u20131969]",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "c. mid-1900s",
"sortorder": 5
},
{
"description": "(Eskenazi Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131985",
"sortorder": 6
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1985\u2013",
"sortorder": 7
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [
"85.71e"
],
"did_you_know": "Cat and butterfly are homophones for the characters \u201cmao die\u201d \u8004\u800b (octogenarian), so this painting expresses hope that the artist's friend will live a long life.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Min Zhen, who was orphaned at age 12 and developed an eccentric personality, was trained by Tang Yin (1682\u20131756), a writer, playwright, and superintendent of the imperial porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen. The connection to him may have enabled Min to stay in Beijing for a decade from around 1773. It is not clear whether he ever resided in Yangzhou, but his style is in many instances reminiscent of that of Yangzhou artist Huang Shen.
The album was painted for his friend Dailili Shanren in exchange for a scholar\u2019s stone. The paintings demonstrate the artist\u2019s versatility and mature style in the last years of his life. While two leaves are rendered in unconventional compositions seen from above (Cat and Butterfly CMA 1985.71.5) and below (Banana Plant CMA 1985.71.11), they have a humorous touch. \u201cCat and butterfly\u201d is a homophone for the Chinese characters \u201cmao die,\u201d meaning \u201coctogenarian,\u201d and express the wish for the recipient\u2019s longevity. The banana plant stands for the world of literati but can also allude to Buddhism.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60475747"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1985.71.5-cat-and-butterfly"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Ding, Nianxian \u4e01\u5ff5\u5148. Nian sheng lou du hua xiao ji [\u5ff5\u8056\u6a13\u8b80\u756b\u5c0f\u7d00 = Chinese calligraphy and painting of various dynasties in the collection of Nianshenglou]. Taibei: Wen xing za zhi she, 1961.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 41, no. 85",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Fukunaga, Takehiko \u798f\u6c38\u6b66\u5f65, and Howard L. Rogers. Kinno\u0304, Bunjinga suihen. chiyu\u0304go (9) \u91d1\u8fb2, \u6587\u4eba\u753b\u7c8b\u7de8. \u4e2d\u56fd\u7bc7 9. To\u0304kyo\u0304: Chu\u0304o\u0304koronsha, 1976.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: pls. 94\u201397, p. 179, fig. 30",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Sotheby's, Parke, Bernet, New York. Fine Chinese Paintings. June 3, 1985 sale.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 69",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: pp. 462\u2013465",
"url": null
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1985.71.5",
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"creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
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"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 152829,
"creators": [
{
"id": 31140,
"description": "Min Zhen (Chinese, 1730\u2013after 1788)",
"extent": null,
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"name_in_original_language": "\u9594\u8c9e",
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"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [
"Cat and Butterfly (Longevity)"
],
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 07:54:10.231000"
}
}