Page 34 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

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A RARE BLACK-GROUND ‘BOYS AND RAMS’ BROCADE PANEL
15th/16th century
The silk satin panel finely woven with repeating patterns of boys riding
white goats or rams, each figure elegantly dressed in fur-trimmed
red and green winter robes, carrying a flowering prunus branch
suspending a bird cage over the shoulders, all surrounded by camelias
and the Precious Objects including flaming pearls, coral branches,
jewels, ruyi heads, lozenges, scrolls, cash and double axe heads, all
on a black ground, mounted.
59cm (23 2/8in) high x 23.5cm (9 2/8in) wide.
£8,000 - 12,000
CNY71,000 - 110,000
十五/十六世紀 黑地童子騎羊紋錦

Provenance: Jacqueline Simcox Ltd., London
An English private collection

Published and Illustrated: Jacqueline Simcox Ltd., Chinese Textiles
and Works of Art, London, 2005, p.23

來源：倫敦古董商Jacqueline Simcox Ltd.
英國私人收藏

出版著錄：Jacqueline Simcox Ltd.，《Chinese Textiles and Works of
Art》，倫敦，2005年，頁23

Elegantly woven in black silk, the present panel is remarkable for its
vivid imagery and well-preserved colour. The popular design of boys
riding goats is associated with the arrival of spring, and with it, the new
year, Winter Solstice, conveyed by the character yang for ram being
a homonym for sun, which also represents the male principle thus
investing the word with connotations of new life and fertility. The Winter
Solstice marked the rebirth of the sun and the beginning of the yang
(male) half of the year, and the prunus and camellia flowers, some of
the first Spring blossoms, herald the end of winter.

Compare with a very similar ‘boys and goats’ silk panel, 15th/16th
century, illustrated by Feng Zhao, Treasures in silk, Hong Kong, 1999,
no.08.09.

Image after Feng Zhao, Treasures in silk,
Hong Kong, 1999, no.08.09.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.