Page 198 - Bonhams ASIAN ART, November 1 2021 London

566 *
A FRESCO PANEL WITH FEMALE
DEITIES
Ming Dynasty
Pigments on plaster, depicting a group of
three female deities, the central figure seated
upon a dragon, the two flanking figures
holding lanterns, all dressed in elaborate
flowing robes, framed and glazed. The panel:
78cm (30 3/4in) x 57cm (22 1/2in)
£1,500 - 2,000
HK$16,000 - 21,000
CNY13,000 - 18,000

The Property of a Gentleman

Provenance: The property of a European
family, acquired circa 1900 and thence by
descent.

567
CHEN CHUNYU (ACTIVE 19TH
CENTURY)
Orchid Pavilion, cyclically dated Wushen year
(1848)
Handscroll, ink and colours on silk depicting
scholars amidst a mountainous landscape,
cups flowing down a stream, colophon and
seals of Hu Tong’en (active mid 19th Century)
cyclically dated to the Jiayin year (1854) and
seals. The calligraphy 95cm (37 1/2in) long x
21.5cm (8 1/2in) high; The landscape 131cm
(51 1/2in) high x 21.5cm (8 1/2in) high
£1,000 - 1,500
HK$11,000 - 16,000
CNY8,800 - 13,000
Provenance: An English private collection

Hu Tong’en 胡彤恩 (late Qing dynasty),
studio name Wu’an (勿庵), was from Sanshui
566 in Guangdong Province. Little is known of
his life except that he became a jinshi degree
holder during the Guangxu reign, and was an
official in the Department of Criminal Justice.

The literati gathering in Orchid Pavilion near
Shanyin (present day Shaoxing) in 353 CE,
became a symbolic event in literati cultural
history, immortalised by the writings of the
sage of calligraphy Wang Xizhi (303-361).
Wang Xizhi wrote the canonical work of
calligraphy ‘Preface to Orchid Pavilion’, for
the poetry written by 42 literati engaged in a
drinking contest. As the present lot shows,
wine cups were floated down a small winding
creak as the men sat along its banks;
whenever a cup stopped, the man closest to
the cup was required to empty it and write
a poem. Apart from the calligraphy of Wang
Xizhi, the event itself encapsulated an elegant
and poetic lifestyle that generations of
scholars forever after strove to emulate and
represent in paintings such as the present
lot. For an ink rubbing of a related scene of
the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, see G.Tsang
and H.Moss, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio,
567 Hong Kong, 1986, no.28.

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