Page 116 - 2020 September Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonham NYC

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LI SHIDA (1550-1620)
Scholar with Attendant under a Pine Tree, 1615 The Suzhou artist Li Shida passed the jinshi examinations in the
Ink and color on paper, hanging scroll, inscribed with verse in clerical second year of the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1574). On the painting,
script and dated Wanli yimao, signed Li Shida, with two artist’s seals Li the artist’s inscription in clerical script records the words of the Tang
Shida yin and Tongfu, with seven collectors’ seals on the painting, Cao dynasty poet Wang Wei: “Asking the age of the pine/ Bamboo forests
Zhongying yin, Zhiqin shending, Bohai Xu shi jianshang shuhua yin, are everywhere”, and reinforces the artist’s erudition. Li Shida did not
Gao Shiqi tushu ji, Pang Zhige taocang yin, shiweng jingyan, Shenan begin painting until late in life, with his earliest dated painting recorded
Hangfu Cao shi Guoyunlou jiangcang jinshi shuhua yin, additional at 1601. In his later years he lived on a promontory at Shihu in Suzhou.
collector’s seals on the mounting, Zidezhai Futian Mao suocang yin A similar late work in the collection of the University of Michigan
(2), and with a titleslip mounted next to the painting signed Cai Youshi, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor titled “The Hermit Tao Yuanming Enjoying
followed by one seal reading Cai Youshi pingsheng zhenshang; with a Chrysanthemums” (1619) compares favorably with the present lot.
wooden box, bearing an inscription on paper attached to the inside of
the cover, reading Li Shida laosong zhulin tu and a seal Zidezhai Futian The numerous collector’s seals on the painting and accompanying
Mao suocang yin, the same seal appearing on the two ends of the mount point to the fact that the painting was a treasured possession
wooden box cover. of a number of prominent collectors over the centuries. One of
54 1/2 x 18 3/4in (138.5 x 47.5cm) the earliest collectors’ seals on the painting ties the work to the
collection of the famed collector and connoisseur Gao Shiqi (高士
$40,000 - 60,000 奇, 1645-1703). Another seal on the painting--Pang Zhige taocang
yin--indicates the painting was likely in the collection of Pang Zeluan (
李士達 松竹人物 設色紙本 立軸 一六一五年作 龐澤鑾, 1868-1916, courtesy name Zhige 芝閣). Pang Zeluan was an
avid collector and connoisseur of epigraphic calligraphy. Two other
Provenance seals, Zhiqing and Bohai Xu shi jianshang shuhua yin, belong to the
Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California painting and calligraphy collector Xu Zhiqing (許質卿). The title slip
Christie’s, New York, Fine Chinese Paintings, 1 December 1986, lot 44 on the mounting, signed Cai Youshi, was written by Cai Shisong (蔡
世松, ?-1843), a native of Nanjing, known for his calligraphy, and he
來源 published Moyuantang cangzhen.
舊金山遠東藝術畫廊
紐約佳士得，1986年12月1日，拍品編號44

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