Cleansing Medicinal Herbs in the Stream on a Spring Day

Description

A famous portraitist, Yu Zhiding here depicts the likeness of Shi Shenyi 史申義 (1661–1712), an official and poet. Master Shi, a sickly man, was deeply interested in medicinal science. The opening section of the scroll features a boy washing a fungus in fresh spring water, a basket of medicinal herbs by his side. Other servants carry a fan, a bundle of scrolls, and a cup of tea or hot wine. Master Shi sits in a bamboo grove, surrounded by fields of herbs. Returning swallows, pink peach blossoms, and blooming magnolia indicate spring, whereas the fungus conveys wishes for long life. The spring theme may express the artist’s wish for his friend’s recovery.

Provenance

Shi Shenyi 史申義 [1661–1712], Jiangdu 江都, Jiangsu province, China, by descent to his family (1703–12); Shi family collection, Jiangdu, Jiangsu province, China, (1712–late 1700s or early 1800s); Zhang Yin 張崟 [1761–1829], Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China (late 1700s–early 1800s); Zaobao 皁保 [d. 1882]; (A dealer in Liuli Chang 琉璃廠, Beijing, China, sold to Zhou Zhaoxiang) (early 1900s?); Zhou Zhaoxiang 周肇祥 [1888–1954] (early 1900s–?); Fujii Yurinkan Museum, Kyoto, Japan; (James J. Freeman, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–2000); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2000–)