Lot Essay
On the second panel (counting from the right), an imaginary Tartar chieftain sits on a throne, encircled by a screen, under a tent-like canopy, with a set of utensils for serving wine placed in front of him. He is surrounded by attendants, two of whom hold long-handled ceremonial fans above his head. The fans are emblazoned with representations of the sun and the moon, symbols of kingship in Yi-Dynasty (1392-1910) Korea.
On panel three, mounted attendants display colorful banners. Four hunters walk toward them carrying a dead tiger, rabbit, and pheasant on two shoulder poles, while a dead deer and boar lie on the ground. In the background above, a group of horsemen hold a hunting falcon.
On panels four and five, horsemen armed with a bow, a halberd, a flail, and a matchlock musket gallop after a stag, a boar and foxes. A falcon flies after a pheasant in the background.
On panel six, a horseman spears a tiger in the mouth while others menace a deer and a boar. In the background, a wild goose is shot down with an arrow.
On panel seven, four hunters on horseback surround a rampant tiger, and another horseman armed with a spear goes after a rabbit and a boar.
On panel eight, a donkey cart filled with dead game prepares to return to the chieftain's camp while a group of hunters relax undr a tree with tobacco pipes and wine.
Hunting scenes such as this one were among the standard types of 18th and 19th century Korean screen paintings. Bird-and-flower screens were considered appropriate for the women's quarters of a Yi-Dynasty home, but hunting screens were reserved for the men's quarters. Equestrian skills and hunting prowess were manly accomplishments ideally cultivated by members of the yangban class (the landed gentry), the bureaucrats), especially military officials, and admired by others.
On panel three, mounted attendants display colorful banners. Four hunters walk toward them carrying a dead tiger, rabbit, and pheasant on two shoulder poles, while a dead deer and boar lie on the ground. In the background above, a group of horsemen hold a hunting falcon.
On panels four and five, horsemen armed with a bow, a halberd, a flail, and a matchlock musket gallop after a stag, a boar and foxes. A falcon flies after a pheasant in the background.
On panel six, a horseman spears a tiger in the mouth while others menace a deer and a boar. In the background, a wild goose is shot down with an arrow.
On panel seven, four hunters on horseback surround a rampant tiger, and another horseman armed with a spear goes after a rabbit and a boar.
On panel eight, a donkey cart filled with dead game prepares to return to the chieftain's camp while a group of hunters relax undr a tree with tobacco pipes and wine.
Hunting scenes such as this one were among the standard types of 18th and 19th century Korean screen paintings. Bird-and-flower screens were considered appropriate for the women's quarters of a Yi-Dynasty home, but hunting screens were reserved for the men's quarters. Equestrian skills and hunting prowess were manly accomplishments ideally cultivated by members of the yangban class (the landed gentry), the bureaucrats), especially military officials, and admired by others.