NGV Kids Activity Book - National Gallery of Victoria

NGV Kids Activity Book
The cricket
and the dragon:
Animals
in Asian Art
This book belongs to
........................................................................................................

Tiny Animals
A tiny painted dragon fly and
a cricket on a snuff bottle.
Look closely and find some more insects.
Snuff bottles
were decorated
in lots of
different ways.
Sometimes the
picture was
even painted
on the inside!
A cicada sitting on a stalk
of grass in a painting.
Draw an insect on
this snuff bottle.
I am a cricket.
I am an insect
and I am tiny.
Insects have
6 legs and usually
have 4 wings.
Can you find these insects
in a big painting?
In China and Japan
people keep crickets as
pets because they sing so
beautifully. They keep them
in special little cages.
All works collection National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne unless otherwise noted. clockwise from top left: CHINESE Snuff bottle Qing dynasty
(19th century) China (detail), porcelain, glass, ivory, cork, (a–b) 8.7 x 8.2 x 3.5 cm (overall). Gift of Miss D. Gibb, 1964. TING Yen Yung Chinese
1905–78, Cicada from the Birds and flowers album 1975 China (detail), album: ink and watercolour on paper, 16 leaves, cardboard and silk
cover, glued binding, 33.3 x 23.0 cm (image); 33.5 x 23.0 x 3.2 cm (closed); 33.5 x 45.8 x 2.0 cm (open). Purchased, 1975. © TING Yen Yung.
Hougansengen Japanese, active (19th century) Hannya the witch (19th century) Japan (details), pigments on silk, 69.8 x 122.0 cm (image),
Accessioned, 1887.
I am a dragon.
I am an extraordinary
animal. I can make
myself very
big or very small.
Extraordinary Animals
Extraordinary animals are
often made up of parts from
different animals.
Dragons have
• the ears of an ox
• the scales of a fish
• the horns of a deer
• the claws of an eagle
• the paws of a tiger
• the neck of a snake
• the head of a camel.
There are many
ways to make a
dragon - they can
be big, carved
from stone or they
can be small and
painted in a bowl.
Find more ways to
make a dragon.
Draw your own extraordinary animal made of parts from different animals.
Dragons bring good luck
and wonderful rain.
right: CHINESE Plate 1899 Jingdezhen,
Jiangxi province, South-east China,
porcelain, gilt, enamel, 4.1 x 23.6 cm
diameter. Gift of Miss Biddy Allen, 1967.
Fu dogs are also extraordinary
animals; they are part dog and
part lion.
Did you see the Fu dogs
protecting the animals in here?

Sky, Water, Land
Draw more animals in the places you would find them.
I live in the
water and
swish my tail
from side
to side.
I live in the sky and fly
amongst the clouds.
I live on the land
and hide under logs,
rocks and plants.

Count The Animals
Hunt for the animals below
and when you find them colour in a square.
Then add up the filled squares.
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
rat duck crocodile
fox rooster toad
Indian miniature paintings were once painted to tell stories about
the lives of kings or Marahanas and their kingdoms.
How many
crickets have
you found ?
Which animal did you
see the most ?
________________________
All works collection National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne unless otherwise noted. from left: JAPANESE Rat with a chestnut (19th century), Japan,
bronze, 10.3 x 16.0 x 10.0 cm. Purchased, 1890. CHINESE Wine jug Qing dynasty, Kangxi period 1662–1722 China, porcelain, enamel, (a–b) 22.3
x 15.0 x 7.5 cm (overall), Private collection, Melbourne. RAJASTHANI Maharana Sangram Singh II attending the feeding of crocodiles at Jagmandir
c. 1720 Udaipur, Rajasthan, India (detail), opaque watercolour and gold and silver paint on paper, 50.2 x 46.0 cm (image). Felton Bequest, 1980.
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI Japanese 1839–92, The moon on Musashi Plain (Musashino no tsuki) (detail) from the One hundred aspects of the
moon (Tsuki hyakushi) series, 1892 Japan, colour woodblock, 36.4 x 24.1 cm (image). Purchased, 1993. SUMBANESE Man’s cloth (Hinggi)
(20th century) Sumba, Indonesia (detail), cotton, dyes (warp ikat), 273.5 x 124.0 cm. Purchased, 1973. Shunkosai HOKUSHU Japanese, active
(c. 1808–32) The actor Arashi Rikan II as Ogata Rikimaru 1831 Japan (detail), colour woodblock, 36.8 x 25.2 cm (image and sheet), Purchased
through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Coles Myer Ltd, Governor, 1993.
I pile rocks to block the
front of my cave on
the ocean floor.
I have eight legs.
You can find me sitting on
a helmet from Japan.
I am an ________________
I live near lakes and rivers.
Every day I wash my
thick skin, squirting
water with my trunk.
You can find me in
miniature paintings
from India.
I am an ________________
Answers:
octopus, fish, Garuda ,elephant, deer
Use your powers to
find the animals that
m a t c h t h e c l u e s .
I have golden scales and
can be kept as a pet but
do not like to be petted.
I swim all day long.
You can find me in a
painting from China.
I am a ________________
I like to hide in long grass or
forest and can run very fast.
As a male I have antlers or
horns, as a female I do not.
You can find me on a
star-shaped tile from Iran.
I am a ________________
Which Animal ?
I wear a crown and
have an eagles’ beak
and a human body.
When my wings flap they
can create a hurricane
and block out the sun.
You can find me carved from
wood. I was created in Bali.
I am a ________________
Scholars studied
nature and painted
landscapes and
animals in ink
on scrolls.
They used brushes
made from bamboo
and animal hair.

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Getting to and
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and City Circle
cover: CHINESE Cricket (19th century–
early 20th century) China, jade, 2.8 x
3.8 x 2.6 cm. Private collection, Melbourne
Prepared by Education and Programs
National Gallery of Victoria
Design: National Gallery of Victoria
Illustrations: Madeleine Stamer