Early Ming Dynasty, Children at Play in a Garden Ink and colour on silk depicting twenty-five boys playing in a fenced grand garden, all dressed in fine clothes, five of them playing cricket to the left of a splendid pavilion where three boys reading, two boys pointing at a boy climbing the tree, another four boys playing games under a tree with a boy climbing and another two boys pointing at him, five boys playing at the ramp in front of the pavilion, and the other boys playing between two rocks at the lower section. 153cm (60 1/4in) x 85.5cm (33 5/8in)Footnotes明早期 佚名 宮廷風格百子圖軸 The setting in this painting is probably in an Imperial garden, with its red lacquered fences and impressive buildings on a high stone base that can be found in the court only from the Song Dynasty to Ming Dynasty. A popular theme in Chinese art since the Song Dynasty, 'boys at play' usually depicts boys in a setting of the adult world, with boys in adult costumes and imitating adult scholar's daily practice. This transposition of ages and settings indicates a wish for Chinese parents, noble or common ones, that they can have many sons who will become scholar-officials in future. Compare with a painting of 'boys at play' by Su Hancheng (1094-1172), which is illustrated in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, Taipei, 2004, no.19; compare the boys with a painting by Ji Sheng who served in the court during Xuande period, in the Palace Museum, which is illustrated in Zhongguo huihua quanji (The Complete Collection of Chinese Painting), Beijing, 2000, vol.10, pl.165. 百子圖題材宋至清代宮廷畫師常以此為題，童子多在庭院嬉戲，然所著服飾，所玩遊戲，多為成年文士之裝束及活動。參考台北故宮藏宋代蘇漢臣繪《五瑞圖》，乃是嬰戲圖的早期範例，見《故宮博物院所藏（台北）中國歷代名畫集》，北京，1989年，卷1，圖版46。亦可參考北京故宮藏一件明宣德宮廷畫師計盛所作《貨郎圖》中嬉戲童子，見《中國繪畫全集》，北京，2000年，卷10，圖版165。