Emperor Lizong | Quatrain on Snow-covered West Lake | China | Song dynasty (960–1279)

南宋理宗趙昀行書北宋梅堯臣依韻和資政侍郎雪後登看山亭詩團扇

Title: Quatrain on Snow-covered West Lake

Artist: Emperor Lizong (Chinese, 1205–64, r. 1224–64)

Period: Song dynasty (960–1279)

Date: ca. 1250–60

Culture: China

Medium: Round fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk

Dimensions: Image: 9 7/8 × 9 7/8 in. (25.1 × 25.1 cm)
Mat: 15 1/2 × 14 1/2 in. (39.4 × 36.8 cm)

Classification: Calligraphy

Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988

Accession Number: 1989.363.18

Inscription: Artist’s inscription (4 columns in semi-cursive script)

On the lake, a bright frozen mist lingers;

On the lake, brilliant sights beckon.
From the pavilion, I gaze at the mountain peaks;
The color of snow and a hazy vapor shine in my winecup.[1]

湖上晴煙凍未收，
湖中佳景可遲留。
更臨亭上看群岫，
雪色嵐光向酒浮。

Artist’s seals

雙龍印
御書

Collectors’ seals

Mu Ying 沐英 (1345–1392) [posthumous seal; probably used by Mu Lin 沐璘 (died ca. 1457; Mu Ying's great-grandson)]
黔寧王子子孫孫永保之

An Guo 安國 (1481–1534)
明安國玩

Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 (1525–1590)
天籟閣
子京父印
神品
項元汴印
欈李項氏世家寶玩
項子京家珍藏 [半印]
項 [半印]

Pan Shicheng 潘仕成 (19th c.)
德畬審定

Pan Yanling 潘延齡 (19th c.)
潘延齡印

Xiang Hanping 香翰屏（1890–1978）
曾藏香氏夢詩廬

He Guanwu 何冠五 (20th c.)
田溪書屋鋻藏

Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988)
顧洛阜
漢光閣

[1] The poem is a transcription of Mei Yaochen’s 梅堯臣 (1002–1060) “依韻和資政侍郎雪後登看山亭”. Translation from Wen C. Fong, Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy 8th-14th Century, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. p. 239.

John M. Crawford Jr. American, New York (until d. 1988; bequeathed to MMA)

New York. China House Gallery. "Masterpieces of Song and Yuan Dynasty Calligraphy from the John M. Crawford Jr. Collection," October 21, 1981–January 31, 1982.

Lawrence. Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. "Masterpieces of Song and Yuan Dynasty Calligraphy from the John M. Crawford Jr. Collection," March 14, 1982–May 2, 1982.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Traditional Scholarly Values at the End of the Qing Dynasty: The Collection of Weng Tonghe (1830–1904)," June 30–January 3, 1999.

New York. China Institute in America. "West Lake and the Mapping of Southern Song Art," September 13, 2001–December 9, 2001.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of the Brush: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy," March 12–August 14, 2005.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Four Seasons," January 28–August 13, 2006.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from The Met Collection (Rotation One)," October 31, 2015–October 11, 2016.

Shih Shou-ch'ien, Maxwell K. Hearn, and Alfreda Murck. The John M. Crawford, Jr., Collection of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Checklist. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, p. 18, cat. no. 23.

Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, p. 239, pl. 39.

Pan Zhengwei 潘正煒. Tingfan Lou xuke shuhua ji 聼帆樓續刻書畫記 (Sequel to catalogue of calligraphies and paintings recorded at the Tingfan Lou Studio). Preface dated 1849. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書. Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 11, p. 892.

Lee, Hui-shu. Exquisite Moments: West Lake & Southern Song Art. Exh. cat. New York: China Institute in America, 2001, p. 107, cat. no. 25.