Page 358 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

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PROPERTY FROM A NORTH AMERICAN PRIVATE Remarkable for their soft colors and meticulous 民國丁丑年（1937年） 王大凡
COLLECTION details, these splendid plaques demonstrate 作粉彩曲院清遊圖及竹院逢僧圖
A PAIR OF FAMILLE-ROSE ‘FIGURAL’ the impeccable virtuosity of Wang Dafan (1888-
PLAQUES BY WANG DAFAN 1961), a member of the prominent group of 瓷板一對
REPUBLIC PERIOD, DATED Jingdezhen ceramic artists, the Zhushan Bayou 曲院清遊圖瓷板題識：
DINGCHOU YEAR, CORRESPONDING (Eight Friends of Zhushan). A native of Yixian, 煙光自潤非關雨 水藻俱香不獨花
Anhui province, Wang went to Jingdezhen
TO 1937 at the age of fifteen and studied under artist 歲次丁丑孟夏月 黟山樵子大凡王堃畫
Wang Xiaotang (1885-1924), a master at
both rectangular panels finely enameled, the
first painted with a scholar accompanied by an painting figures of ladies in famille-rose 印文：
enamels and vice-president of the Porcelain
attendant riding in a sampan cruising through Painting Research Institute. By utilizing fluid, 堃 大凡
a lake with blossoming lotus and overhanging
willow trees in the foreground and water reeds expressive brushstrokes with exquisite colors, 竹院逢僧圖瓷板題識：
in the background, accompanied by a related as well as fusing elements from both traditional 因遇竹院逢僧語 又得浮生半日閒
Chinese and Western paintings, Wang was
poem written by the Qing dynasty scholar able to create intricate and whimsical figures,
official Wang Wenzhi, and followed by a signed 丁丑初夏月中澣 黟山樵子大凡王堃畫於
and dated inscription and two artist seals which later became his personal style. Already 昌江
reading Kun and Dafan; the second, painted a highly respected artist within China, his
artistic mastery gained him further recognition
with a scholar leisurely wandering in a bamboo internationally, when his piece Fugui Shoukao 印文：
groove and conversing with a monk dressed 堃 大凡
in a yellow robe, accompanied by a related [Wealth, Honor and a Long Life] won a gold
poem written by the Tang dynasty poet Li She, medal at the Panama-Pacific International 來源
Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915.
followed by a signed and dated inscription and 1958年得於中國，此後家族傳承
two further artist seals Kun and Dafan (2)
Height 15⅛ in., 38.3 cm; Width 9⅞ in., 25 cm Further famille-rose ‘figural’ plaques by Wang
Dafan include a pair, one painted with Xi Shi
PROVENANCE and Fan Li, and the other painted with Hong
Fu Nü, sold in these rooms, 12th September
Acquired in China in 1958, and thence by 2018, lot 384; one painted with promenading
descent.
figures, included in the exhibition Brush and
Clay. Chinese Porcelain of the Early 20th
$ 80,000-120,000
Century, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong
Kong, 1990, cat. no. 68; two sold at Bonhams
San Francisco, one painted with statesmen and
female musicians, 25th June 2014, lot 6382,
and a smaller second plaque illustrating Li Bo,
17th December 2013, lot 8354; and another
example, painted with scholars, from the
collection of the Hon. Andrew Li Kwok Nang,
sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December
2010, lot 3279.

356 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART