Page 34 - Bonhams Chinese & Asian Works of Art Los Angelis December 14 2020

The artist’s portrayal of the twelve women in this painting appears to Pictures for Use and Pleasure: Vernacular Painting in High Qing
refer to specific characters in Cao Xueqin’s novel Hong Lou Meng 紅 China, University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 2010, p.
樓夢 (Dream of the Red Chamber), possibly the “Twelve Beauties of 152-3). While unsigned, this painting bears a seal reading Zhenran.
Jinling” 金陵十二釵. For example, the beauty at the far left holds a An accomplished painter of traditional scholarly subjects such as
gold qilin, referencing the character Shi Xiangyun 史湘雲 who was landscape, flowers, and religious figures, the monk Zhenran (1816-
given a gold qilin by the novel’s protagonist Jia Baoyu 賈寶玉. The 1884) was nonetheless obliged to paint for his livelihood, and was
beauty to her immediate right sports a gold “lock” plaque 金鎖, known to have been disparaged by connoisseurs for painting
referencing Xue Baochai 薛寶釵 who famously wore such a plaque. according to the fashion of the day. Perhaps the present lot was
Further, the fifth figure from the left wears a nun’s robes and fingers painted to fulfill a special commission for an image of a large group of
a duster, referencing the beauteous Buddhist nun Miaoyu 妙玉 who beautiful women that, by association with characters in the beloved
resided in the Grand View Garden with the other women and Jia novel Hong Lou Meng, was elevated beyond conventional meiren
Baoyu, and the first figure in the foreground on the right delicately paintings on public display.
holds an orchid blossom in her hand, referencing the melancholic Lin
Daiyu 林黛玉 who buried fallen blossoms in two scenes in the novel. （傳）釋 真然 金陵十二釵 設色紙本 鏡框

In his discussion of 17th-18th century vernacular paintings made by 鈐印：真然、釋蓮溪畫印
professional artists for wealthy patrons, James Cahill suggested that
large-sized paintings of multiple figures (of women) such as the present
lot were likely intended for public display in restaurants, wine shops, or
even brothels, and often depicted courtesans (James Cahill,

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