Verbal Description Transcript

Wall Hanging- made in the 18th-19th Century in Taiwan, then under Chinese control. 4 feet 10 inches tall and 6 feet 9 inches wide, ink and pigment on pieced deerskin. The tanned deerskin provides a light beige background for red, black, and brown illustrations to stand out. A thick red border with decorative swirls and points outlines the wall hanging. Inside this border another border runs alongside it, this one with a black blockish pattern that is maze-like in its design. These borders outline the entire wall hanging but also divide the deerskin into two sections. The larger section takes up the top ⅔ of the hanging, and the smaller section the lower ⅓. The larger section depicts an aerial view of the city of Tainan. A fortress sits on a peninsula, towers stand at each corner. Soldiers ride horses and practice their archery. Above the fortress flows a river. Boats of multiple sizes are shown in profile. Masts rise above the bodies of the larger boats and several have released their sails. The smallest boats have only one or two people aboard and are steered with long oars. On the other side of the river, rows of one story shops and houses line the upper left landscape, surrounding an ornate temple. The upper right area consists of rougher terrain and scattered small farmhouses sitting on risers. People can be seen completing daily tasks, hunting, transporting goods, and farming. The bottom third of the wall hanging is separate from the image above. Five rectangles sit edge to edge along the bottom border. The outer two panels depict birds among flowers. The inner two show New Year offerings of peacock feathers, coral, and flowers in decorative bowls and vases. The center panel is fan shaped and contains a scene of an official in a red robe standing in a garden being shaded by a servant with an umbrella. To the right, a third man kneels while propping a flag on his shoulder and gesturing to the sky.