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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=38C8CFEC6F568ACFDD30D7BC5DC93819922E3927A53744202558357C05662AE5&s=24247294&se=985081725&v=4&f=1957.139_o2.jpg

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Jan 2, 2007

The Kill

300–100 BCE

China, Warring States period (475–221 BCE) to Western Han dynasty

(206 BCE–8 CE)

Painted clamshell

Overall: 7.5 x 9 cm (2 15/16 x 3 9/16 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold T. Clark in memory of Flora L. Terry 1957.139

Location

241A Arts of Ancient China

Did you know?

The marine clam species to which this shell belongs is exclusive to the western Pacific Ocean near China, Japan, the Philippines, and the East Indies.

Description

The inside of this shell preserves the earliest, extant figure paintings in Chinese history.

Provenance

Samuel Hubert Minkenhof [1879–1956], Amsterdam, Netherlands, and New York, NY

?–1957

(C.T. Loo 盧芹齋 [1880–1957], Paris, France, and New York, NY, purchased with funds from Harold T. [1882–1965] and Marie Odenkirk Clark [1896–1971] for gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1957–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Vassar College. Chinese Painting: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Exhibition May 22 to June 10, 1940. Poughkeepsie, NY: The Gallery, 1940. Mentioned: cat. nos. 1, 2, pl. 1

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 812 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E. "Early Chinese Painted Shells with Hunting Scenes." Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 11 (1957): 69–75. Mentioned: pp. 69–75; Reproduced: p. 71, figs. 1b, 2b, 3b; p. 72, fig. 4

Trubner, Henry. Arts of the Han Dynasty. New York: Chinese Art Society of America, Asia House, 1961. Mentioned: cat. no. 85

Sullivan, Michael. The Birth of Landscape Painting in China. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962. Mentioned: p. 19

Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Mentioned and Reproduced: color pl. 6

Li, Dun Jen. The Ageless Chinese, A History. New York: Scribner, 1965. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 114

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 247 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 247 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 327 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 11 archive.org

Exhibition history

Chinese Painting. Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY (May 22-June 10, 1940).

1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959).

The Arts of the Han Dynasty. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 7-March 26, 1961).

Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).

China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=The Kill|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1957.139|year=300–100 BCE|access-date=11 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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The Kill

The Kill

China, Warring States period (475–221 BCE) to Western Han dynasty

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