Page 64 - Bonhams Chinese & Asian Works of Art Los Angelis December 14 2020

PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNER
114
A PAIR OF FIGURAL PORCELAIN PLAQUES DEPICTING LI BAI
AND TAO YUANMING
Republic period
Of tall rectangular section, the first depicting the poet Li Bai as a slightly He Xuren, sobriquet He Chu (1882-1941), was a member of the
disheveled scholar holding his cup towards the moon beneath a wutong Eight Friends of Zhushan school of porcelain painters, known almost
tree while his boy acolyte holds a wine ewer nearby, the inscription exclusively for his snow scenes. In fact, examples of He’s work of any
including the signature He Xuren as well as red seals reading Xuren and subject matter without snow seem to be relatively rare: see the tiny
He Chu with additional seal reading qinglian zuijiu; the second depicting seals depicting spring landscapes offered as lot 360 in Christies South
the older Tao Yuanming beneath a different gnarled tree, peering down Kensington sale of 12 May 2017 or the small moonflask depicting river
at the basket of chrysanthemums proffered by his own boy attendant, landscapes offered as lot 304 in Sotheby’s London sale of 5 November
the inscription including the signature reading He Chu as well as red 2014. Unlike those two and other examples offered by Bonhams in the
seals reading Xu Ren and He Chu with additional red seal on the bottom past, the present lot seems to be more reminiscent of and compares
of the plaque reading Yuanming cai ju. favorably with the best work of his mentor and teacher Wang Qi-- note
32in (81.3cm) visible height of porcelain (2). the stunning juxtaposition of the hyper-realistic faces with the more
stylized scholarly attire. The only hints of the typical grisaille techniques
$12,000 - 18,000 more familiar to He Xuren and his snow scenes is the small corner of
dusty and smoky moonlit night at the upper left corner of the Li Bai
plaque.

62 | BONHAMS