清 陳字 洗象圖 軸|Washing the White Elephant
undated
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
Image: 34 5/16 x 15 1/16 in. (87.2 x 38.3 cm) Overall with mounting: 86 3/4 x 23 in. (220.3 x 58.4 cm) Overall with knobs: 86 3/4 x 27 1/4 in. (220.3 x 69.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1976
Accession Number
1976.191
Tags
Art Historical Context
Chen Zi’s “Washing the White Elephant,” a Qing-dynasty hanging scroll in ink on paper, captures a quiet moment of human-elephant interaction. Created during the long reign of the Manchu emperors (1644–1911), the work belongs to a venerable Chinese tradition in which animals often carried symbolic weight—elephants, especially white ones, suggesting purity, rarity, and imperial favor. The tall, narrow format of the scroll encourages viewers to appreciate the scene gradually as the eye travels from the splashing water at the bottom to the figures above. Rendered with fluid brushstrokes typical o...