c. 1800-1825

The Lover Rides His Horse Far into the Pond to Let Him Drink

This unknown artist had a masterful sense of color and pattern, although his unconventional drawing skills indicate that he was not trained in a major court workshop. The landscape-with vivid chartreuse grass and a blue pond filled with wildly swirling water-is fully energized by the crazy zigzags of the shoreline. The couplet on the back of the page comes from an unknown poem. It reads:

Riding far into the pond, he lets his horse drink.
In their hearts, the maidens were greatly astonished to see him do this.