SPECIAL ADVISORY: In accordance with Yale University’s revised COVID-19 protocols, the Yale University Art Gallery will close to the public beginning Friday, October 16, 2020. Learn More

Asian Art

Eagle, Bear, and Waterfall

late 15th–early 16th century

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

with mounting: 100 × 42 5/16 in. (254.001 × 107.4 cm) with rollers: 44 3/4 in. (113.6 cm)
Purchased with gifts from Ruth and Bruce B. Dayton, B.A. 1940; The Henry Luce Foundation at the request of H. Christopher Luce, B.A. 1972; and the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund, in honor of Professor Richard M. Barnhart
2004.32.1a-b
Admired for their martial spirits, eagles and hawks (both ying in Chinese) represent courage and the ability to act swiftly and boldly. In this painting, an eagle in the foreground is shown with a bear (xiong) in the landscape below, creating the rebus for the word “hero” (or yingxiong). The cascading waterfall at the left, lush vegetation, and red leaves at the right depict the transition from summer to autumn.
Geography: 
China
Status: 
On view*
Culture: 
Chinese
Period: 
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Classification: 
Paintings
Provenance: 

Kososhi Unshodo, Kyoto, Japan; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.

Bibliography: 

Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 136, 374, pl. 123.

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.