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Mandarin ducks under smartweed
From the collection of National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler). Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
A pair of mandarin ducks huddle together on the bank under the tall smartweed. Mandarin ducks, among the most beautiful of all ducks, are always found in pairs. Therefore, they are the most favorable and frequent symbol of conjugal felicity in China. In the upper portion of the composition there is another pair of song birds; one in the air flying toward the other one, which is perched on the smartweed. This is an excellent Ming painting based on a Sung composition, with an interpolated signature of the tenth-century master Hsu Hsi.
National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler)’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineMandarin ducks under smartweed. 16th century. Formerly attributed to Xu Xi (active mid-10th century). National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler), Gift of Charles Lang Freer. CC0.
