Toad and Grasshopper by Flowers
Toad and Grasshopper by Flowers

photo: Masatsugu Nokubo

Toad and Grasshopper by Flowers
Toad and Grasshopper by Flowers

Currently not on view

Toad and Grasshopper by Flowers,

after 1689

Jiao Bingzhen 焦秉貞, active 1671–1726
Chinese
Qing dynasty, 1644–1912
1996-55

Although Jiao Bingzhen served in the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, the emperor commissioned several paintings from him. His painting style was noted for its European influences, especially Jiao’s mastery of visual perspective and close study of nature. However, this painting was not done from observation. The pale blue blossom in the foreground is a freesia, a flower neither native to China nor known to bloom in this color. It is thus likely that Jiao’s depiction follows a European seventeenth-century black-and-white engraving.

Information

Title
Toad and Grasshopper by Flowers
Dates

after 1689

Maker
Jiao Bingzhen 焦秉貞
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Painting: 33.0 x 31.0 cm. (13 x 12 3/16 in.) leaf (open): 49.4 x 79.3 cm Leaf (closed): 49.5 x 39.7 cm. (19 1/2 x 15 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Anonymous gift in honor of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951
Object Number
1996-55
Place Made

Asia, China

Marks/Labels/Seals
Artist, Chen Jiao Bingzhen 臣焦秉貞, square intaglio yin, right Collector, Zhiqing 直清, square relief yang, bottom left corner
Culture
Chinese
Period
Qing
Type
paintings, albums, chinese painting styles
Materials
paper (fiber product), colorant, ink
Subject
grasshoppers, dianthus, toads, frogs, irises

–1996 Private collection, by gift to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1996.

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