Page 206 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

Two Rare Suzhou Prints

Lots 233 & 234
Among the many milestones in the long history of Chinese Today, numerous palaces and old mansions in Hungary, Germany,
printmaking, Suzhou prints from the 17th and 18th century Austria and France still display 18th century Suzhou prints on their
are remarkable for their innovations. Evolving from an already walls, a resounding echo of the taste of the day.
thriving woodblock print industry, printmakers and publishers
from the Kangxi period onwards began experimenting with color, Both of the prints offered here include the names of the publishers-
perspective and size. -Wang Junfu and Wang Xin. The presence of their names on
the print is a testament to their status in the cultural hierarchy of
Their aesthetic appeal proved enormously popular, and the Suzhou, a thriving art center at the time.
woodblock print medium allowed for distribution on a grand scale.
Circulated throughout the nation of China, images from Suzhou For recent scholarship on these uncommon prints see Gao
publishers began to reach Europe by the 1740’s, fashionably Fumin, Kang Qian Sheng Shi “Suzhou Ban” 康乾盛世「蘇州版」,
utilized as wall coverings in the homes of the aristocracy. Shanghai, 2014. The website https://chiwoopri.wordpress.com
updates regularly with new findings on the topic.

233
A RARE SUZHOU PRINT This print relays a historical tale concerning Emperor Yang (r. 604-
619) the last emperor of the brief Sui Dynasty, and one of the most
Wang Junfu, late 17th Century
Woodblock print, ink an color on paper, mounted on backing paper, notoriously vicious rulers in China’s long history. Among Emperor
titled Sui Yangdi Kan Qionghua and with a printer’s mark in a cartouche Yang’s positive accomplishments was the expansion of the Tongji canal
along the right edge Gusu Wang Junfu faxing. connecting the capital Luoyang with Yangzhou, a distance of 800
14 3/4 x 23 1/4in (38 x 58.5cm) kilometers. It is said his motivation was to ease his travel to Yangzhou
to see the famed Qionghua flower. In this image Emperor Yang (with
the dragon robe) arrives on one his famed multi-storied boats.
$12,000 - 18,000
There are five other extant prints by Wang Junfu. A recently
姑蘇版套色木版畫《隋煬帝看瓊花》 十七世紀晚期 discovered map titled Da Ming Jiubian Wanguo Renji Lucheng
Quantu 大明九邊萬國人跡路程全圖 (The Routes to Great Ming from
Provenance All Nations) is dated Kangxi 2 (1663) and places the publisher in the
Acquired in Europe, 1980’s, thereafter by descent early years of the Kangxi period. See https://chiwoopri.wordpress.
com/2019/02/01/dates-for-wang-junfu/
來源
20世紀80年代購於歐洲，後由家族成員繼承 A second work Wanguo Lai Chao 萬國來朝 (All Nations Coming to
Court) is in the collection of the British Museum (1920,1216,0.1).
See Clarissa Von Spee, The Printed Image in China, British Museum,
2010, cat. no. 23.
204 | BONHAMS