Untitled

Unidentified artist

Date unknown · Handscroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

This scroll contains nineteen portraits from seven generations of a single family. The patriarch of each generation is depicted along with his wife or wives and, in some cases, concubines. The first four generations wear robes and hats of the Ming dynasty, while the final three wear Qing-dynasty attire. Each generation is preceded by a label in the shape of a “spirit tablet,” a ritual placard used to house the spirit of the deceased so the living may venerate them in the ancestral altar of the home. These tablets transcribe the generation of each man, his branch of the family, and the maiden names of the women. The final tablet remains uninscribed, likely because the man pictured commissioned the scroll during his own lifetime.

Artist

Unidentified artist

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Edward Wells, 1955