id: 174005 accession number: 2015.498 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.498 updated: 2020-11-06 10:00:38.040000 Squirrel on a Pine Branch, 1500s. Song Tian (Chinese, active 1300s). Hanging scroll, ink on paper; overall: 119.7 x 66.4 cm (47 1/8 x 26 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift from the Collection of George Gund III 2015.498 title: Squirrel on a Pine Branch title in original language: 松鼠圖 series: series in original language: creation date: 1500s creation date earliest: 1500 creation date latest: 1599 current location: 240A Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy creditline: Gift from the Collection of George Gund III copyright: --- culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) technique: hanging scroll, ink on paper department: Chinese Art collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Song Tian (Chinese, active 1300s) - artist --- measurements: Overall: 119.7 x 66.4 cm (47 1/8 x 26 1/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c) opening date: 2017-02-11T05:00:00 Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Heisondo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to George Gund III) date: ?-1997 footnotes: citations: George Gund III [1937-2013] bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1997-2015 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2015- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Although the evergreen pine does not indicate a time of year, the lively activity of the squirrel and the insect suggest a warm season. digital description: wall description: This painting captures a squirrel in action, distracted and twisting its head while climbing and looking at a little bug to the right. The painter skillfully employs a combination of ink washes and fine brushstrokes to simulate the animal’s fur. Only three simple curved lines depict the squirrel’s claws.

The subject of squirrels did not appear in Chinese painting before the late Southern Song (1127–1279) and Yuan periods (1279–1368). The painter Songtian was one of the few Yuan painters who specialized in this theme. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.498/2015.498_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.498/2015.498_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.498/2015.498_full.tif