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The Fox Fairy
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Description
Xu Lele is a figure painter who takes her subjects from popular literature. These two paintings depict the fox fairy, subject of a Tang dynasty short story about a beautiful young seductress who is actually a fox fairy in disguise. Having found a faithful lover, the fox fairy is eventually torn apart by hounds. In the Qing period, the fox fairy remained a major subject of love stories, such as those in Strange Tales of a Scholar’s Studio.
This painting and its pair [EA1995.270] are unusual in that they have been framed in pencil, and the calligraphy and seals fall outside the main composition. Gold-flecked papers, either plain or coloured, have been used in Chinese art for many centuries.
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Zhejiang province › Ningbo (place of creation)
- Date
- 1991
- Material and technique
- ink, colour, and pencil border on gold-flecked blue paper
- Dimensions
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frame 63 x 47 x 2 cm (height x width x depth)
painting 43.5 x 32 cm sight size (height x width)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › gold,
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented in honour of the forthcoming 70th birthdays of Jose Mauricio and Angelita Trinidad Reyes, 1995.
- Accession no.
- EA1995.269
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Further reading
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 September-1 December 1996, Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Vainker, Shelagh (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1996), no. 105A on p. 78, p. 9, illus. p. 78 fig. 105a
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- 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.
Publications online
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Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Xu Lele is a figure painter who takes her subjects from popular literature. These two paintings [EA1995.269, EA1995.270] depict the Fox Fairy, subject of a Tang short story about a beautiful young seductress who is really a fox fairy in disguise, and having found a faithful lover is eventually torn apart by hounds.
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