Palace ladies bathing children

Inscription: No artist’s inscription, signature or seal

Label strip

Zhang Heng 張珩 (1915–1963), 1 column in standard script, undated; 1 seal:

唐周昉 《戲嬰圖》，張氏珍玩。 [印]： 張珩

Colophons

1. Zhang Shen 張紳 (14th century), 2 columns in standard script, dated 1372; 1 seal:

周昉戲嬰圖。經紹興御府收覽，真跡無疑。壬子秋齋郡張紳題。 [印]: 士行父

2. Gao Qi 高啟 (1336–1374), 9 columns in standard script, undated; 2 seals:

題彥亷所藏戲嬰圖。
芍藥風闌側，梧桐露井傍。嬌嬰爭晚戲，少婦鬪春粧。
共詫珠生蚌，還怜玉產岡。半披文錦褓，斜佩紫羅囊。
額髮葳蕤短，胸肌細膩光。庭前王氏子，陌上衛家郎。
弱草身眠軟，芳英手弄香。隨人貪作劇，避伴學迷藏。
莫撲花胡蝶，宜為蠟鳳凰。塗添雲母粉，浴試水沉湯。
麟送徐卿宅，蘭生謝傅堂。愛均看捴好，年並比誰長。
驥種雖難匹，鵷鶵已作行。憐君得此畫，真是夢態祥。
勃海高啟 [印]: 高啟私印、高季迪

3. Qian Pu 錢溥 (1408–1488), 7 columns in standard script, dated 1451:

海虞陳原錫所藏周昉士女戲嬰圖，妙絕千古，雖伯時、漢臣輩以士女以嬰兒名家者，莫能並臻奇妙。然觀者徒以粧容閒雅，調戲生動可愛，而不知子生其懷，顧復保護之天至者，使人覽之，則孝思之情可以油然生矣。豈犆為觀美也哉。景泰辛未春正月雲間錢溥書于玩古齋。

Collectors' seals

An Qi 安歧 (1683–after 1742)
□府之寶

Li Hongyi 李鴻裔 (dates unknown)
李鴻裔鑑藏印

Zhang Heng 張珩 (1915–1963)
張珩私印
吳興張氏圖書之記

[ C. T. Loo & Co. , Paris, until 1940; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Chinese Galleries: An Inaugural Installation," 1997.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Millennium of Chinese Painting: Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," September 8, 2001–January 13, 2002.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Painting, Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," August 28, 2004–February 20, 2005.

Princeton University Art Museum. "The Eternal Feast: Banqueting in 10th - 14th Century Chinese Art," October 19, 2019–February 9, 2020.

Priest, Alan. Aspects of Chinese Painting. New York: Macmillan, 1954, pp. 68–69.

Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, p. 25, cat. no. A1-124.

Burn, Barbara. Metropolitan Children. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, front and back endpapers.

Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 22–23, pl. 2.

An Qi 安岐. Moyuan huiguan 墨緣彚觀 (Viewing records of works in ink). Preface dated 1742, juan 3 of the painting section. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書 (Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting and calligraphy) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Zhongguo shuhua quanshu, 10, vol. 10, Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 10, p. 414.

Wu Sheng 吳升. Daguan lu 大觀錄 (Records from a grand view). Preface dated 1712, juan 11. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書 (Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting and calligraphy) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 8, p. 386.

Silbergeld, Jerome, and Dora C. Y. Ching, eds. The Family Model in Chinese Art and Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 305, fig. 3.

Kwok, Zoe S. The Eternal Feast; Banqueting in Chinese Art from the 10th to the 14th Century. Exh. cat. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Art Museum, 2019, pp. 55, 83, 127–29, 147, cat. no. 22.