Page 143 - Bonhams Chiense Paintings New York July 21 2020

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ANONYMOUS (14TH/15TH CENTURY)
Phoenix, Peony and Wutong tree
Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, with a total
of six collector’s seals, the first, upper right, an
archaic ding-form seal, the characters not legible,
with three seals along the left edge, Gui’an Lu
Xinyuan shending, Lu Shihua cang and Chen
Ding pingsheng zhenshang, and three along the
right edge, reading Zhen shang, Zhang shi Zibo
jianshang, and Miujin zhai zhencang yin.
34 x 14 3/8in (86.4 x 36.5cm)

US$6,000 - 8,000

佚名 玉堂富貴 設色絹本 立軸

The unknown artist’s painstaking attention to the
details suggests that the artist followed the gongbi
tradition in the genre of the bird and flower painting,
which can be traced back to the 10th century
and artist such as Huang Quan (903-965). The
naturalistic style presented in current lot is similar
to those court painters’ work. For instance, the
Yuan dynasty painter Wang Yuan’s Taozhu jinji tu
(Peach Blossom, Bamboo, and Golden Pheasant)
in the Shanxi Bowuguan, and Yin Hong (ca. 1430-
1500) Birds Gather Under the Spring Willow in the
collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The fine feathers of the phoenix, layered hues of the
delicate peony petals, and subtle rendering of the
colors not only reveal the painter’s deft skills, but
also reflect their keen observation of nature.

The collectors’ seals on the painting testify that the
work has been appreciated by art enthusiasts at
least from the 17th century onward, each collector
known for their excellent connoisseurship in
painting, calligraphy, and rare books. For example,
Lu Shihua (1714-1779) published several books
discussing arts, such as Wuyue suo jian shuhua
lu and Shuhua shuoling. Lu Xinyuan (1834-1894)
built a private library Bisong Hall in which stored his
manuscripts and rare book collection.

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FINE CHINESE PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART | 141