Painted horses scroll

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Preferred citation:

MSS 16312, Painted horses scroll, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
0.2 Cubic Feet 1 box
Language:
Item is in Chinese.
Preferred citation:

MSS 16312, Painted horses scroll, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

The Painted horses scroll (circa 1800s; 0.2 cubic feet) is written in Chinese, but is from Japan. Contents categorize horses according to "The five natures and ten coats: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water; Gray, Chestnut, Bay, Palomino, Bluish, Black, Skylark, Roan, Buckskin, 'Two-hair' [piebald?]." Text at the end of the scroll, just before the dragon, is a quotation from the Liexan Zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals), with some variations in wording from the original text. Said text praises the Yellow Emperor for being the first to understand and nurture horses, teaching them, and along the way, imbuing them with the spirit and mystical ways of the dragon.

The scroll is likely from the early nineteenth century, having been repaired and remounted in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

Acquisition information:
Accession number 2017-0162, purchased 14 April 2017. Marion duPont Scott Fund, 2016/2017.
Dimensions:
52 1/2 feet long x 12 1/8 inches
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Horses