Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Beauties and Heroes: Legends and Stories in Chinese Art

(from 21st Jan until 15th Jul 2012)

Explore paintings, prints and papercuts depicting legendary figures from Chinese folklore.

Detail of Heroes from The Water Margin, by Shi Dawei, Shanghai, 2003 (Museum No: EA2007.194)
Guan Yu from Romance of the Three Kingdomsfront

© the artist's estate

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Guan Yu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms

  • Description

    In Beijing opera, each character has special make-up designed to visualize his or her characteristics. For example, the mask of Guan Yu is usually painted in red to symbolize his loyalty and righteousness. The masks for the same character may vary in different stories. Zhang Fei often wears a black mask to show his masculine appearance, but in this papercut he is painted with a funny face to amuse the audience during a comedy performance.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    Shanxi Guangling Folk Papercuts
    Associated place
    Asia › China › Shanxi province › Guangling (place of creation)
    Date
    1987
    Artist/maker
    Zhang Minjin (c. 1915 - 1990s)
    Associated people
    Guan Yu (died AD 219) (subject)
    Material and technique
    dye on cut xuan paper
    Dimensions
    17 x 12 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    cut,
    dyed,
    coloured › dyed
    Object type index
    visual representation › papercut
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by John Gittings, 2008.
    Accession no.
    EA2008.54.a

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Notice

Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.

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