Page 298 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

VICTORY MEMORIALIZED:

AN IMPERIAL GUANGXU BATTLE PAINTING

Grand in scale and detail, this impressive work the left of the scene in organized groups, the paintings were commissioned to hang in
belongs to a set of eighteen paintings heralding waving banners and swarming the city. the Ziguang pavilion (hall of purple splendor),
the Qing military’s triumph over the rebel forces Billowing clouds of gunpowder smoke fill the a two-story building on the western shores of
of the nian. air, bows and arrows are raised, the walls are the Central Lake in Zhongnanhai, west of the
breached—the battle is shown at its height. Forbidden City. It was in this building that the
the nian rebellion was an armed uprising the nian rebels, few and far between in the Qianlong emperor would receive foreign envoys
that took place from 1853 to 1868, composition, are dealt a definitive blow. and celebrate the victories of his ten Great
contemporaneous to the taiping rebellion
(1851-1864) in the south. suffering from famine high ranking and meritorious figures in the military campaigns. It was also where portraits
and a series of river floods in the 1850s, largely battle, pictured leading the troops and given of meritorious banner officers and large-scale
individual likenesses, are identified by name.
paintings of battles commemorating Qianlong’s
due to governmental and administrative amongst them are Jia huishan, Bayan Kexi, military victories were displayed. Zhang notes
neglect, the nian comprised a motley crew of
peasants, army deserters and salt smugglers Wu Yuanbing, Zheng Yuanshan, Liu Zishun, that upon their arrival, the new works by
who coalesced under the leadership of Zhang Zhou Denggao, Yang Feixiong, Gui Fengqing, Yu commissioned by Yihuan were hung in place of
Zhaoda, Yin Jiabin, sheng Bao, and Zhang Yao,
Qianlong’s battle paintings (ibid., p. 270).
Lexing in 1855. Inspired by the White Lotus pictured at the center of the painting looking
secret societies and unencumbered by a only a very small number of paintings of the
government preoccupied with the taiping out towards the viewer. all of them had been original sixty-seven Guangxu battle paintings
rebellion in the south, the nian quickly overran involved in pacifying unrest in surrounding have survived. of the eighteen commemorating
villages before the victorious battle at pingyu.
seven or eight provinces in north and central In particular, Wu Yuanbing served as governor the campaign against the nian rebels, only the
China. they fortified captured cities, using exact whereabouts of only two are known, and
them as bases to launch cavalry attacks against of hubei and anhui as well as governor of the both are in the national Gallery, prague. the
Qing troops in the countryside, prompting local ministry of transport, while Zheng Yuanshan first depicts the defeat of the troops of the chief
was an official for henan province. For a more
towns to fortify themselves against nian raiding detailed account of this battle, refer to Nian Jun rebel Zhang minhang in shandong province in
parties. the surprisingly resilient rebellion was october 1861, the second shows the triumphant
not suppressed until 1868 under the command Shi, shanghai, 2001, pp. 309-310. procession of government troops which
of Li hongzhang. as discussed by Zhang hongxing, recently concluded the campaign in august 1868, both
discovered documentation in the Grand Council are illustrated by Zhang, ibid., figs 2 and 3.
In 1885, a series of large-scale Imperial
paintings was commissioned to commemorate archives surrounding the patronage of these a complete set of twelve paintings depicting
works reveals that Yihuan (1840-91), father
victories over three major 19th century of the young Guangxu emperor at the time, scenes of the muslim rebellion in Yunnan and
rebellions in China: the taiping rebellion, the Yuizhou are in the palace museum, Beijing,
nian rebellion and the muslim rebellions. as acted as the commissioner. the workshop illustrated in ibid., figs 5 and 6. Four paintings
Zhang hongxing writes in ‘studies in Late Qing that produced the paintings was established from the series commemorating victorious
under the shenjiying (Beijing Field Forces), a
Dynasty Battle painting’, Artibus Asiae, vol. troop of bannermen in charge of guarding the battles between the Imperial army and the
LX, no. 2, 2000, p. 267, a total of sixty-seven forces of the taiping heavenly army are
paintings were created for this commission. capital. although the painters of these works known. one, formerly in the collection of Cécile
they comprised twenty paintings for the are not named in the archives, they were almost mactaggart, is illustrated in ibid., fig. 1. others
certainly under the direction of Qingkuan
taiping War, eighteen for the nian rebellion, (1848-1927), Director of the three agencies in sold at Christie’s London, 22nd april 1991, lot
twelve for the muslim rebellion in Yunnan 101; and in our hong Kong rooms, 9th october
and Yuizhou, and seventeen paintings for the the neiwufu (Imperial household Department) 2007, lot 1312; and 8th october 2009, lot
muslim rebellion at the northwestern borders. and an accomplished painter himself. From the 1660. see also two paintings from the series
1880s, Qingkuan was the director of almost
this painting is the seventh in the set of every imperial art commission, including the commemorating the victories over the muslim
eighteen, and shows the siege and subsequent architectural decoration of the summer palace rebellion in the northwest sold in these rooms,
the first, 15th september 2010, lot 367; the
recaptue of the city of pingyu in western and paintings for the Guangxu emperor’s second, 17th march 2015, lot 225.
henan province, in 1862, under the leadership wedding ceremony in 1889 and empress
of several important Qing military and civil Dowager Cixi’s sixtieth birthday in 1893 (ibid.,
officials. the Qing soldiers approach from p. 269).

296 SOTHEBY’S Important ChInese art