Chrysanthemums and Cabbage (c. 1486 or before): Art, History and Details

Chrysanthemums and Cabbage (c. 1486 or before) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Tao Cheng (Chinese, active c. 1471–after 1502).

The work and its context

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

On an autumn day in Beijing, Tao Cheng had a gathering with a group of scholar-officials and created two paintings in a spontaneous, casual style. The first depicts chrysanthemums, slender bamboo stalks, and a rock in monochrome ink. Tao applied light colors for the second painting that depicts cabbage. Tao deliberately placed the images on the first sections of the paper so that his honorable guests could add their poetic inscriptions inspired by his imagery. In the first section to the right, all seven poetic inscriptions refer to the beloved poet and recluse Tao Qian (also called Tao Yuanming, AD 365–427) who was particularly known for his profound love for chrysanthemum flowers. Most of the inscriptions in the second section express sympathy for the poor, since cabbage is the main ingredient in their humble food. Taken together, the poems and paintings allude to the life and responsibilities of the scholar-official: the importance of both an upright character and a concern for the poor citizens in order to achieve good government.

Object facts

• Title: Chrysanthemums and Cabbage
• Date: c. 1486 or before
• Creator attribution: Tao Cheng (Chinese, active c. 1471–after 1502)
• Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: handscroll; ink and slight color on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 28.6 x 253.7 cm (11 1/4 x 99 7/8 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1960.40

A detail from the museum

Eminent calligrapher Wang Wenzhi (王文治) was only 27 sui (years old) when he wrote the title in 1756.

Collection credit

Anonymous Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• Jiao yu bu di er ci quan guo mei shu zhan lan hui zhuan ji [敎育部第二次全國美術展覽會專集 = A special collection of the second National Exhibition of Chinese Art under the auspices of the Ministry of Education]. Nanjing: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1937.
• Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956.
• Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959.

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.