Hunting on Horses (c. 1600s–1700s): Art, History and Details

Hunting on Horses (c. 1600s–1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This large-scale hanging scroll depicts a party hunting for waterfowl along a riverbank in the springtime. The leader is distinguished from the other five mounted hunters by his purple robe with golden dragon patterns and his white horse with a red tassel. He and his horse maintain still, dignified postures as a small white falcon captures one of the wild geese. Equestrian pursuits and hunting were particularly popular among the Khitan (also spelled “Qidan”) and Jurchen, ethnic groups who lived along China’s northeastern border. Their nomadic lifestyle intrigued the Chinese court and inspired Chinese artists to develop a painting genre showing them hunting.

Object facts

• Title: Hunting on Horses
• Date: c. 1600s–1700s
• Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
• Dimensions: Painting: 276 x 147.5 cm (108 11/16 x 58 1/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 380 x 184 cm (149 5/8 x 72 7/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1915.680

A detail from the museum

This falconry scene includes one white hunting dog and four trained hunting birds.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Sung, Hou-mei. Galloping through dynasties. Milano, Italy: Skira; Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Art Museum, 2022.

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.