Page 80 - Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Paintings May 28 to 29 2022

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION 私人收藏 (LOT 868)

868

868 TRANSLATION OF THE POEM BY EMPEROR QIANLONG:
ZHAO MENGFU (1254-1322) AS CATALOGUED IN SHIQU BAOJI The expansive countryside sprawls out in all directions; a clear river
shimmers.
Washing Horses Grotesque rocks protrude from the blue waves; red and purple peep through
Handscroll, ink and colour on silk the oak trees.
37.9 x 309.4 cm. (14 √ x 121 æ in.) Government grooms drive horses from the imperial stables; washing them in
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist a bright stream.
Dated autumn, seventh month, first year of the Zhizheng period A flushed-face groom slouches on his saddle; a young servant boy is given
(1341) free rein.
Frontispiece inscribed a poem and signed by Emperor Qianlong The horses number in ten thousand, all of superb pedigree.
(1711-1799), with three seals Fine horses have different temperament, as they appreciate a beautiful
Dated autumn, seventh month, first day, yimao year (1735) landscape.
Four collectors’ seals of Emperor Qianlong and one of Emperor They gallop like flying dragons; they relax like resting wild swans.
Jiaqing (1760-1820) Racing each other, clouds of dirt are kicked up from the ground.
A stallion is pursuing a mare; a dam is nursing her foal.
PROVENANCE: And there are those by themselves, with tall and full manes.
Lot 512, 15 March 2017, Important Chinese Art From The Fujita These noble steeds can gallop long distance; they can break through a
Museum, Christie’s New York.
fortified army of ten thousand.
LITERATURE: I have viewed Li Gonglin, who was always exceptionally skilled in painting
Emperor Gaozong, Shiqu Baoji Chubian, 1745, Facsimile reprint, horses beautifully.
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, pp.1048-1049. (described Zhao Mengfu depicted the complete landscape [instead]; his whimsical
as “secondary quality”) approach has captured the essence of the horses.
Full Collection of Hall of Benevolence, Chapter 22, in Siku Quanshu Wandering on the river Fei and lake Mei; as if we are in the legendary land
- Ji (The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections), The of celestial horses.
Commercial Press Ltd., Taipei, 1986. (Poem by Qianlong) As the autumn wind whistles, country hunting begins.
[I am] eager to try the golden whip, downing two pheasants with one arrow.

NOTE:
Zhao Mengfu is one of China’s best known painters of horses,
which he depicted as individual portraits and in large numbers.
The latter, with the animals walking, prancing, rolling and
playing, along with their grooms and set in a broad, level landscape
is a convention that extends to the Tang dynasty. Just as the Tang
emperors relied on their steeds for the growth and control of their
empire, so, too, did Zhao Mengfu’s Mongol employers. Zhao’s
horse paintings derived from his study of the works of Han Gan’s
method of outlining and colouring in the animal’s forms but also

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