Eight horses. Embroidered picture on silk

China, first half of 20th century

whitesmoke colour, silk satin fabric; flat stitch, dry stitch, bobbin stitch, needlepoint embroidered

height: 116 cm, width: 68 cm

Donated by Ilona Zboray’s daughter

Chinese Collection, accession number: HFM_2023.47.1

 

Set in a landscape on a hill slope, under a tree, eight mythological horse figures are grazing and playing around.

Our museum preserves more than a hundred works of art collected by Ernő Zboray who spent several decades in Java between the 1920s and ‘40s. A group of these objects forms the most significant part of our Southeast Asian Collection — the wayang golek or three-dimensional wooden puppet collection consisting of 80 pieces. This collection – as well as Ernő Zboray himself – has been given special dedication in our various past exhibitions (e.g., Tradition and change, 2013-2014). Memoires of his sister Ilona Zboray were included in our exhibition titled Trance|Dance|Bali in 2020. From their bequest, and from the private collection of their descendants, three further objects were acquired by the Hopp Museum recently.