Cat and Butterfly (1788): Art, History and Details

Cat and Butterfly (1788) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Min Zhen (Chinese, 1730–after 1788).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Min Zhen, who was orphaned at age 12 and developed an eccentric personality, was trained by Tang Yin (1682–1756), a writer, playwright, and superintendent of the imperial porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen. The connection to him may have enabled Min to stay in Beijing for a decade from around 1773. It is not clear whether he ever resided in Yangzhou, but his style is in many instances reminiscent of that of Yangzhou artist Huang Shen. The album was painted for his friend Dailili Shanren in exchange for a scholar’s stone. The paintings demonstrate the artist’s versatility and mature style in the last years of his life. While two leaves are rendered in unconventional compositions seen from above (Cat and Butterfly CMA 1985.71.5) and below (Banana Plant CMA 1985.71.11), they have a humorous touch. “Cat and butterfly” is a homophone for the Chinese characters “mao die,” meaning “octogenarian,” and express the wish for the recipient’s longevity. The banana plant stands for the world of literati but can also allude to Buddhism.

Object facts

• Title: Cat and Butterfly
• Date: 1788
• Creator attribution: Min Zhen (Chinese, 1730–after 1788)
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: album leaf, ink on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 29 x 18.4 cm (11 7/16 x 7 1/4 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Album leaf
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1985.71.5

A detail from the museum

Cat and butterfly are homophones for the characters “mao die” 耄耋 (octogenarian), so this painting expresses hope that the artist's friend will live a long life.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Ding, Nianxian 丁念先. Nian sheng lou du hua xiao ji [念聖樓讀畫小紀 = Chinese calligraphy and painting of various dynasties in the collection of Nianshenglou]. Taibei: Wen xing za zhi she, 1961.
• Fukunaga, Takehiko 福永武彥, and Howard L. Rogers. Kinnō, Bunjinga suihen. chiyūgo (9) 金農, 文人画粋編. 中国篇 9. Tōkyō: Chūōkoronsha, 1976.
• Sotheby's, Parke, Bernet, New York. Fine Chinese Paintings. June 3, 1985 sale.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.