Bamboo, 1735
Xu Bin; Artist: In the manner of Su Shiexpand_more
Ink on paperexpand_more
Gift of Ruth and Bruce Daytonexpand_more 96.30.4
Not on Viewexpand_more
The Yangzhou artist Xu Bin was not prolific, and little is known about his life and work. In typical scholarly fashion, Xu made reference to a past literati master in his signature colophon, which reads “in the brush manner of Su Shi (1031–1101)". To the right of the composition, he also composed a rather arcane poem about bamboo:
Flute making material; cut it, and give it to the dragon’s son.
New shoots, stored up to nourish the phoenix’s grandson.
When the Yugong [a book] described Yangzhou and its products
It was only appropriate that it regarded its bamboo as beautiful as jade.
Dedicated to Ma Bujiang
Above the image is a short-running couplet, dated the eighth day of the fifth (summer) month of 1735. Xu said, “Because of the rain I sat at my window with nothing to do; and had the idea of writing these two lines with some extra ink”:
Stone roots irregular as clouds;
[reference to a type of desk or garden rock called a cloud root]
Phoenix tails as delicate as jade.
[reference to a type of bamboo]
Details
- Title
- Bamboo
- Artist Life
- active early 18th century
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 96.30.4
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.