Artwork
明/清 佚名 冒氏先人小像二幅 卷|Two Ancestors of the Mao Family
明/清 佚名 冒氏先人小像二幅 卷|Two Ancestors of the Mao Family is an ink painting. It dates from 1639 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The composition focuses on the representation of the subject, consistent with the genre of ancestral portraiture.
Created in 1639, this handscroll portrait is executed in ink and color on paper. The work measures 28.3 cm in height and 4.6 cm in width, presenting a formal depiction of a male figure. As an anonymous Chinese painting from the Ming or Qing period, the piece adheres to traditional portrait conventions through its use of pigment and ink on a paper support. The composition focuses on the representation of the subject, consistent with the genre of ancestral portraiture.
History & Provenance
The handscroll titled Two Ancestors of the Mao Family was created in 1639 by an unknown artist in China. Executed in ink and color on paper, the work depicts two male figures and measures 28.3 cm in height with a width of 4.6 cm. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While the specific commissioning details and the original ownership chain prior to its arrival at the museum are not detailed in the available records, the work is firmly dated to the early seventeenth century based on its inception record.
The scroll is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is recorded there with an accession number 1973.121.1.2 and is listed among the holdings of Chinese paintings in the museum’s Department of Asian Art.
It has not been exhibited publicly since its acquisition by the museum.
Overview
Two small portrait figures representing ancestors of the Mao lineage are presented on a hand‑scroll composed of ink and color applied to paper. The work dates from the Ming or early Qing period and is attributed to an anonymous artist. The format allows the viewer to engage with the images sequentially, a typical narrative device in Chinese painting.
Subject & Meaning
The scroll depicts a pair of male figures identified as forebears of the Mao family, each rendered in formal court attire. Their dignified postures and attentive gazes suggest reverence for lineage and the Confucian emphasis on ancestral veneration, a common theme in private family commissions of the era.
Context
During the Ming and early Qing dynasties, hand‑scrolls were a favored medium for personal and family narratives, allowing owners to display genealogical honorifics in a portable, scrollable form. Such works often accompanied ritual rites or were displayed during commemorative occasions within the household.
Artist & collection
