Page 262 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong Dec 3 2021

The second zitan brushpot carved with landscape (lot 3060) PROPERTY FROM THE GENGDU SHUWU COLLECTION
is based on a painting by renowned court painter Fang Cong 耕讀書屋珍藏
and probably carved by him. He is one of Qianlong’s favourite 3060
court painters in the late Qianlong period, with 48 of his
works recorded in the Imperial painting compendium Shiqu A SUPERBLY CARVED ZITAN ‘RIVER
Baoji. Although the current brushpot is reminiscent of his well- LANDSCAPE’ BRUSHPOT
known hanging scroll Travelling in Autumn Moutains 秋山行旅圖 QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
(fig. 3), in the Beijing Palace Museum, its sparse composition
seems more inspired by Yuan master Huang Gongwang, whose The brushpot is carved from a single piece of zitan with a
style is much admired by Fang Cong. Here the craftsman continuous river landscape scene, and with
juxtaposes long fluid knife cuts for outlines against short, abrupt a carved inscription on the wall of a rock on one side reading chen
texture (cun 皴) cuts to great effect. Fang Cong gong hua, ‘Respectfully painted by your vassal Fang
Cong’, followed by two square seals, chen ‘vassal’ and Cong.
5æ in. (14.5 cm.) high
第二件紫檀筆筒（拍品3060）所刻的山水是宮廷畫家方琮的 HK$600,000-800,000 US$77,000-100,000
畫，可能為方琮所刻。方琮是乾隆在晚期非常喜歡的一個畫
家，共有48張作品著錄於《石渠寳笈》裏，乾隆並常在他的 PROVENANCE
畫上題詩。方琮畫風師法元代黃公望，此筆筒上的山水雖然 Ji Zhen Zhai Collection
讓人聯想到方琮的名作–收藏於北京故宮的《秋山行旅圖 Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art, no. 1190
軸》（圖三），它簡練的佈局卻更有黃公望的遺風。雕刻匠 EXHIBITED
人在此運用流暢的長刀刻畫山水輪廓，對比急促的短刀表現 Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
水墨畫的皴法，生動傳神，將筆墨以木雕完美呈現。 LITERATURE
Fang Jing Pei, Treasures of the Chinese Scholar, New York/Tokyo,
1997, p. 43, fig. 30
A similar zitan brushpot signed Fang Cong also carved with a river
landscape was sold at Beijing Hanhai, 10 December 2001, lot 1882.

fig. 3 Travelling in the Autumn Mountains, Fang Cong, Qing Dynasty, (another view 另一面)
Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
圖三 清 方琮《秋山行旅圖軸》北京故宮博物院藏品

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