Page 91 - Sotheby's May 10th 2017 London Animal Menagerie, Chinese Art

Fanciful in nature and brimming with auspicious associations, birds are positioned as one
of the most popular and oldest decorative motifs in Chinese art. Appearing on early ritual
bronzes as well as inspiring vessel forms of the archaic Shang (6th century-c.1050 BC)
and Zhou (c.1050-221 BC) dynasties, the subject of birds reached a significant turning
point during the Five Dynasties period (907-960) by developing into a distinct painting
genre. According to contemporary critics, these paintings had the function of categorising
the natural world and distinguishing different species from one another. Their decorative
potential was fully exploited under the patronage of the Huizong Emperor (1100-1126)
of the Northern Song dynasty, who established the Imperial Painting Academy. It was in
this period and the Southern Song period that depictions of birds in paintings and other
materials had not only a decorative function but also carried a variety of auspicious messages.

A variety of bird species are represented in this collection, of which mandarin ducks
(ya) were particularly popular. As ducks are said to swim together and mate for life they
represent fidelity, marital bliss and happiness. Ducks were also associated with official life, as
their character is written with the radical for jia (first or best); thus during the Qing dynasty
the mandarin duck was indicative of a civil official of the seventh rank. In jade and other
precious hardstones, ducks are often depicted in pairs grasping a sprig of lotus in their beak
or resting with their feet tucked under their body on a large lotus leaf to create the phrase
yuanyuang xihe which may be translated as ‘May you be paired for life’.

The elegant white crane (he) on the other hand is a common Daoist symbol of longevity, as
its white feathers represent old age and they are believed to live for over a thousand years.
When depicted grasping a sprig of fruiting peaches in its beak, as seen in lot 65, it expresses
the wish heshou qiansui (May the crane and peach grant you one thousand years). A similar
message is expressed by the goose (hong), which is mentioned in the Liji [Book of rites] as
arriving as a guest in the autumn, a concept later associated with longevity.

(Le ) Anonymous, Crane in a bamboo grove, ink and colour on silk, hanging scroll,
Ming dynasty, 14th-early 15th century.

Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.