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Spread 1
After Huang Yi’s Transporting Books
Spread 1

After Huang Yi’s Transporting Books

Weng Tonghe (Chinese, 1830–1904)
1644–1912
Medium/Techniqueink and color on paper
DimensionsOverall: 2.6 × 13.5 × 22.6 cm (1 × 5 5/16 × 8 7/8 in.)
Image: 22.5 × 26.8 cm (8 7/8 × 10 9/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of the Wan-go H. C. Weng Collection in honor of Weng Tonghe
Accession number2019.1996
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Description

Here Weng Tonghe copied a painting titled Transporting Books, by the famous 18th-century seal carver and ancient calligraphy enthusiast, Huang Yi (1744–1802), depicting a friend moving to a new home. In 1790, this friend—a passionate book lover who spent all his money buying books—left Beijing for a new government post. As he traveled, numerous carriages followed behind piled high with his books.

 

Weng Tonghe must have had a similar experience when he departed Beijing. On June 15, 1898, due to political conflicts, the emperor suddenly ordered Weng to retire and return to his hometown. Preparing for this more-than-700-mile journey, Weng started to pack his family collection, including paintings, calligraphies, rare books, rubbings, and miscellaneous literati objects. A manuscript of his packing list reveals that he filled the first box with some of his most favored objects. The list includes three of the paintings in this gallery.

Provenance19th century, Weng Tonghe (b. 1830 – d. 1904), Changshu, China; 1904, by inheritance from Weng Tonghe to his great-grandson, Weng Zhilian (d. 1919), Changshu and Tianjin; 1919, by inheritance from Weng Zhilian to his son, Wan-go H.C. Weng, Tianjin, New York, and New Hampshire; 2002, transferred to the Hsing Ching Weng Trust, New Hampshire; 2019, gift of the Hsing Ching Weng Trust to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)