Page 118 - Bonhams Chinese and Himalayan Paintings June 2016

PROPERTY FROM ANOTHER OWNER

8206 Provenance
A GROUP OF FOUR POLYCHROME ENAMELED PLAQUES Acquired from an old California estate
Republic period
Of tall rectangular section now mounted in a pair of two-panel The seals and signature are those of the ceramicist Wan Yunyan (active
table screens, each depicting a different figural scene of historical 1930-1950). For three plates by this artist, see the examples offered in
motherhood; all four plaques inscribed with the signatures Yunyan and these rooms as lot 9501 in our sale 21821 of 17 December 17 2014.
the cyclical date kuiwei (equivalent to 1943) as well as iron red seals
reading Yunyan or shishan. The subject matter depicts a tradition of dutiful, if not fanatical,
7 3/4 x 5in (19.7 x 12.7cm) dimensions of porcelain exclusive of frames motherhood described in Chinese writings from earliest antiquity to
present day (see for example, Chua, Amy, Battle Hymn of the Tiger
$3,000 - 5,000 Mother. New York: Penguin, 2011). The first plaque inscribed xiong
dan he wan identifies the mother as that of the Tang dynasty literatus
民國 款 彩 賢母 板四片一組 Liu Gongchuo, here supervising her son’s recovery from a night of bear
gall-bladder pill-enhanced cramming; the second inscribed jing zhong
bao guo depicts the Song dynasty General Yue Fei’s elderly mother
tattooing the phrase ‘vigorously repay your country’ on his back while
his wife and child observe; the third inscribed hua di chuan fa depicts
the Song dynasty scholar Ouyang Xiu in rapt attention while his mother
instructs him with a long reed scratching at the ground; and the
fourth inscribed ze lin quan xue depicts Mencius’ mother, presumably
recently relocated to a district more conducive to her child’s education,
ready to slice her weaving to shreds if the future sage shows the
slightest sign of flagging in his studies.

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