Page 127 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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A BLUE-GROUND SILK EMBROIDERED THREE 清十八世紀 藍地繡三星報喜圖
STAR GODS’ PANEL 立軸
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
mounted as a hanging scroll 來源
Height 75½ in., 191.8 cm; Length 40⅞ in., 103.8 cm 耕織堂收藏
PROVENANCE
Geng Zhi Tang Collection.
This piece is a fine example of Suzhou school embroidery.
From the Ming dynasty onwards, embroidered works
produced in Suzhou, one of the textile production centers
of Southern China, achieved an outstanding reputation for
its fine quality and sophisticated designs, known as suxiu
(Suzhou style embroidery). The scroll depicts the ‘Three
Star Gods’, each representing good fortune (fu), wealth (lu),
and longevity (shou). These three deities are worshipped and
revered in Chinese culture, particularly during festivals and
important occasions, with the hope of attracting luck, wealth,
longevity, and overall well-being.
Compare a closely related example, from the National
Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong zhixiu xuancui
/ Masterpieces of Chinese Silk Tapestry and Embroidery
in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, pl. 43; and
a related embroidery scroll depicting Magu, the Goddess
of Immortality, illustrated in Huang Nengfu, Chūgoku
kinuorimono zenshi. Nanasennen no bi to waza [Complete
history of Chinese textiles. Skill of seven thousand years],
Tokyo, 2015, pl. 9-214.
$ 60,000-80,000

250 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION OF CHINESE TEXTILES 251