Page 114 - Chinese Art Bonhams San Francisco December 18, 2017

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A POLYCHROME ENAMELED PORCELAIN PLAQUE What the demons that appear in all of those examples share in
Wang Qi, dated by inscription to 1928 common with those in the present lot is that they all seem less like
Of long rectangular section, depicting the demon queller Zhong Kui ferocious enemies to be slayed and more like begrudging and annoyed
looking on stoically while his elaborate cortege of subjugated devils assistants to an equally begrudging and annoyed Zhong Kui. Queller
deliver his clearly distraught sister unwillingly to her marriage through and quelled perhaps thus find a tenuous common ground in their
a misty wood, beside the lengthy inscription including the wuchen shared experience as being homely outcasts from a society concerned
date and the signature reading Xichang Taomi Daoren Wang Qi xieyi. only with superficial beauty.
8 x 23in (20.2 x 58.5cm) visible dimensions of porcelain
Indeed in the present lot, Wang Qi characteristically utilizes porcelain
$60,000 - 80,000 of long horizontal shape to explore these ideas with an imagination
and technical virtuosity equal to some of his finest other published
After being deprived of his rightful place as top exam finisher due to examples in this format: see Kwan no 27 pp 112-113 Op. cit. as well
as the plaque offered in these rooms as lot 8191, 19 December 2016.
his unattractive appearance, the Tang dynasty scholar Zhong Kui As only Wang Qi can, the plaque progressively unveils a spectrum of
committed suicide in a rage by slamming his face into a pillar. His angry exaggerated and grotesque facial expressions and body language as
soul however would still go on to find employment in the service of the the elaborate team of devils delivers Zhong Kui’s sister to her wedding
state as the emperor’s personal ‘queller of demons.’ See Bartholomew through the dreary woods. Angry, embarrassed, irritated and concerned,
Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum of Wang depicts the quelled minions in every uncomfortable shade of the
San Francisco, 2006), 285 for a succinct synopsis. emotional rainbow. Perhaps equally demonic in his own way, Zhong
Kui avoids making eye-contact with the weeping sister he’s giving
Something about this well-known legend seemed to exert an away, a maiden renowned for a beauty she here hides from the viewer
irresistible attraction on Wang Qi (1884-1937) for the length of his by burying her head in her sleeve. Zhong can only hide underneath a
career. Simon Kwan’s Chinese Porcelain of the Republic Period: the broken fan himself, also unable to make eye contact with the viewer--
Muwen Tang Collection Series [Minguo Ciqi: Muwen Tang Shoucang Wang Qi in this way rendering the potentially one-dimensional folk tale
Quanji] volume 6, (Hong Kong: Muwen Tang Fine Arts, 2008), includes of Zhong Kui and his personal demons with a fully formed psychological
no fewer than three pieces by Wang Qi depicting the demon queller, portrait of sadness, trauma and perhaps a bit of shame.
no. 22-24, pp 102-107. See as well the vase offered in these rooms as
lot 8186 in Bonhams sale 22510 of 10 December 2015.

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