About this artwork
Generations of Chinese intellectuals and Buddhist monks honed the practice of tea tasting into a high art form. The “bamboo stove” —a carrying case that contained a ceramic kettle used for heating water—was central to the process of tea preparation. This ingenious device, fanned by a servant in the center of this painting, was the subject of a poem by Wu Kuan (1435-1504), a close friend of Tang Yin. In this composition, Wu appears on a low platform with a teapot and a scroll by his side. He shared the tea ceremony with a Buddhist monk, while another servant draws fresh water from a nearby stream.
Five years after Wu Kuan’s death, Tang Yin executed this delicate vignette in the writer’s memory. The first colophon was written by Zhu Yunming (1461-1527), a famous poet and calligrapher who exchanged tea-related verses with Mr. Wu. Such commemorative paintings provide poignant records of Chinese intellectual and cultured society.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of Asia
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Artist
- Tang Yin
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Title
- Tea Drinking Under the Wutong Tree
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Place
- China (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1470–1523
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Medium
- Handscroll; ink and slight color on paper
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Dimensions
- 116.6 × 23.8 cm (9 3/16 × 45 7/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Kate S. Buckingham Endowment Fund
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Reference Number
- 1941.13
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/40558/manifest.json