Page 108 - Chinese Art October 2017 San Francisco

5298

5298 Xu Baizhai (徐白齋, 1777-1853), also known as Xu Wu (徐五), was a
XU BAIZHAI (1777-1853) native of Beijing. He was a popular professional painter whose lantern
A set of Eight Lantern paintings (deng pian) of Theatrical Subjects paintings were known to be among the highest quality works of the
Eight hanging scrolls, each ink and color on silk, each painting type during the late 18th to early 19th centuries. He was also known
depicting three scenes drawn from popular operas or novels, including to have painted such subjects as Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and
scenes from Baishechuan (The Legend of the White Snake) and stories scenes from Journey to the West on fan paintings.
from the popular Ming dynasty novel compilations Jingshi Tongyan
(Stories to Caution the World) and Xingshi Hengyan (Stories to Awaken Lantern paintings (燈畫或燈片畫) were paintings on silk mounted as
the World), the side of each scene inscribed in ink with a title, each the sides of lanterns, their vivid colors particularly striking as they are
painting bearing a collector’s seal reading Wang shi Shenbo suo cang lit from behind. Ming dynasty lantern paintings generally depicted
[8]. landscapes or bird-and-flower subjects, while works from the Qing
51 x 14in (130 x 35.6cm) the largest depicted more dramatic scenes, reflecting the mass popularity of
operas and dramatic novels. The large size of the paintings in the
US$10,000 - 16,000 present lot likely indicates that they were mounted on lantern screens.

Provenance
from the collection of Wang Shenbo (1895-1989), thereafter to the
current owner by descent

106 | BONHAMS