Artwork Details
63-3/4 x 38-1/4 in. (image) 104-1/2 x 42-1/4 in. (mount) 104-1/2 x 46-1/2 in. (installation)
DynastyGift of Mrs. John H. Roberts, Jr.
CopyrightAsian Art (Chinese and other Asian)
Color PaletteMrs. John H. Roberts, Jr.; given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1975.
貨郎
In the past, the arrival of an itinerant salesman was a welcome sight in villages. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), when all sorts of everyday scenes became worthy subjects for artists, a toy peddler, often carrying a huge rack of goods on his back, was a popular theme.
The cart has many birds and insects in cages for the amusement of the vendor’s young customers. Because the peddler’s clothes are not those of the low merchant class and the style of depiction is not the ragged and angular brushstrokes typically used for subjects from the lower classes, it is possible that this is a portrait of a wealthy patron playing a role.
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