China Guardian Spring Auction 2024
Phase 1
Preview time
May 7 - May 10
Auction time
Scenery and Lines: Painting in Porcelain May 12 19:30 postponed
Auction location
Guardian Arts Center
(No. 1, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing)
“
The mountains look up, and the scenery stops. Four oysters, six bridles like a harp. Calm my heart.
”
—"The Book of Poetry, Xiaoya, Che Xing"
Chinese calligraphy and painting have undergone a long period of evolution and development, whether it is the charm of the Jin and Tang dynasties or the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty, they are like towering mountains, providing rich nourishment for the material culture of the past dynasties of China. Different pictorial styles are like several "Jingxing" avenues, carrying the dazzling decorative patterns of the past dynasties. And a piece of exquisite utensils is like a four peons and six bridles, on the painting avenue, the scenery stops!
Ming Dynasty painting upholds the tradition of Chinese culture of reverence for sages. There are not only painters like Chen Hongshou who admired the legacy of the Jin and Tang dynasties, but also painters like Qiu Ying and Tang Yin who deeply studied the Song Dynasty, and Dong Qichang, who carried forward the spirit of literati painting in the Song and Yuan dynasties. In this special session, "Scenery and Travel: Painting in Porcelain" attempts to analyze the decorative patterns of thirteen pieces of porcelain in the exhibition with the distinctive pictorial ideas presented by the above three groups of painters.
1. The aesthetics of the Song Dynasty by Tang Yin and Qiu Ying
Today's narrative is full of ten doors, and the Taoist interpretation is the first of all articles, and the cover is taken from this. The show of the five elements, for the spirit of all things, noble and princely, cheap and horseman, and its crown, car clothes, mountains and forests, hills and ravines, all have to be taken, so the characters are secondary...... The town of the five mountains, the origin of the four desecrations, the oil is a cloud, it rains vigorously, the angry waves are turbulent, thousands of miles away, and the miserable comfort of the clouds and smoke of the husband, the obscurity of the day and night, if the husband is made in heaven and earth, so the mountains and rivers are secondary...... The order of mortals, it is not based on character, especially for generations, and a few people who wear scrolls, because of the door and get painted, because of the painting and get people, because of people and talk about the world, know the husband of the painting spectrum, not private ladies also.
- "Xuanhe Painting" narration
Tang Yin
Tang Yin (1470-1524), the word Bohu, the word Ziwei, the late number Liuru layman, the owner of the Peach Blossom Nunnery, a native of Wu County. He first learned to paint in Zhou Chen, and later made friends with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, and Zhu Yunming, and his calligraphy, painting, and poetry statements were very prosperous. Qiu Ying, the real father, a real fu, the number of ten continents, Taicang, Jiangsu, lives in Suzhou. Born as a craftsman, he later learned painting from Zhou Chen, and was praised by Wen Zhengming, so he became well-known at the time, and made a living by selling paintings, and Qiu Ying, Shen Zhou, and Wen Zhengming were called "Ming Four Families".
Ying Jin
Qiu Ying, the real father, a real fu, the number of ten continents, Taicang, Jiangsu, lives in Suzhou. Born as a craftsman, he later learned painting from Zhou Chen, and was praised by Wen Zhengming, so he became famous at the time and made a living selling paintings. Good at painting figures, especially long ladies, not only work and color, but also good at ink and white, or round and fluent, or strong and powerful, all Seiko Yanli. Landscape more learn from Zhao Boju, Liu Songnian, green works, delicate and strong bones, but also good at flowers and birds. In his later years, he was a guest at the collector Xiang Yuanbian, imitating the famous paintings of the past dynasties, and his brushstrokes were real. and Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, and Tang Yin are known as the "Ming Four".
The Palace Museum has a part of Zhao Boju's "Autumn Colors of Rivers and Mountains" in the Southern Song Dynasty
We can clearly feel the evaluation requirements for the real scene from the narrative of "Xuanhe Painting", so "Gewu" is extremely important for the maturity and consciousness of painting art, it makes landscape painting real, let figure painting become expressive, and also make flower and bird painting become smart, and finally make Song painting become the peak of art history.
The Palace Museum has a part of Li Tang's "Picking Rose" in the Southern Song Dynasty
Tang Yin and Qiu Ying of the Ming Dynasty continued the Song Dynasty's practice of the concept of "Gewu", especially in landscape and figure painting. Although the focus of science in the Ming Dynasty has shifted from "Gewu" to "Zhizhi", and the style of painting has gradually shifted from sketching to lyricism, the two painters of Tang and Qiu worked Song painting in order to hone their skills, carried the banner of "Gewu", penetrated into the thoughts and perspectives of the Song people, and well inherited the spirit of Song painting. In particular, Qiu Ying, who was the painter who worked the most deeply on the Song method in the Ming Dynasty, not only inherited the essence of Li Tang (such as Li Tang's "Cai Wei Tu" of the Southern Song Dynasty in the collection of the Palace Museum) and Liu Songnian in terms of figure opening and mountain stone tree method, but also had a deep understanding and practice of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui's plot layout. The persistent pursuit of skills made Qiu Ying recognized by the entire literati and doctor class at that time, and also created his transformation into a Taoist technique.
Qiu Ying's paintings were a representative of both elegance and vulgarity at that time, and in addition to being popular in the literati circle, they also won the love of the people, as evidenced by the large number of Qiu Ying-style "Suzhou films" that can be seen today. This made the "Song method" and "ancient rhyme" become the favorite of the public at that time, and also made porcelain painting and other skills for the purpose of practicality and decoration have a higher aesthetic pursuit.
Lot 1172
Qing Kangxi
Colorful knocking horses, blocking soldiers, fairy characters, story maps, sticks, mallet bottles
H: 75 cm
Source:
纽约通运公司（Tonying & Company, Inc., NewYork）旧藏；
Saint Louis Art Museum, 113.1916;
New York Auction, 30 March 2005, lot 396;
Jierui Hall handed over the collection;
New York Auction, 20 March 2018, Lot 322
Exhibit:
Embracing the Past and Blending the Present: Kangxi Porcelain from the Collection of Jieruitang, New York, 2014, no. 2
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The abdomen of this product is painted for the sixty-eighth episode of "Shouyang Mountain Qiyi Blocking Soldiers" plot in "Romance of the Gods". This time mainly tells the story of King Wu leading the army to leave Xiqi and go to Yanshan, passing through Shouyang Mountain, only to see Boyi and Shuqi, standing halfway, and admonishing: "Defeating the king with a minister can be described as loyal? "When the generals on the left and right saw Yi, they knocked their horses together and admonished them, but the soldiers were not allowed to advance, and they were furious in their hearts, and they wanted to raise troops to kill them. Jiang Ziya hurriedly said: "No." The righteous of this world are also. "Busy order left and right to help them go, and all the soldiers have to advance. King Wu has pacified the chaos, and the world is Zongzhou. And Bo Yi and Shu Qi are ashamed, they don't eat Zhou Su, they hide in Shouyang Mountain, they eat Zhou Su shamefully, and they eat it by picking roses. Eventually, he starved to death.
Wang Jiqian old Tibetan Northern Song Dynasty Wu Zongyuan "Dynasty Yuan Immortal Battle Map" part
The theme ornament "Knocking on Horses and Blocking Soldiers" is closely related to the group portraits of a type of painting popular in the Song and Yuan dynasties. The group portrait is mainly to highlight the activities of the characters, requiring both form and spirit, and the characters conform to the principles of character shape, proportion, scene perspective, etc., and more importantly, convey the character, temperament and demeanor of the characters. For example, Wu Zongyuan, a famous painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Chaoyuan Immortal Battle Map", with its vigorous and rhythmic, bright and energetic lines, outlines the fluttering sleeves and complicated clothing patterns of the immortals, and the banner and flag treasure cover also dances in the wind and clouds, making the viewer imagine the divine power of the immortals soaring into the clouds and resisting the wind. The characters are all marching from right to left, the posture is slightly to the left, and the hem of the clothes is flying to the right, with obvious directionality, which vividly expresses the image and temperament of the immortals, and the scene is grand and imposing.
In comparison, many details in this product can correspond to the "Chaoyuan Immortal Battle Map". In terms of character layout, this product also adopts the way of marching from right to left, and the banner and the hem of the character's clothes fly to the right, which has obvious directionality. In terms of the portrayal of the characters' demeanor, the depiction of demeanor and temperament is emphasized, and there are thousands of people and different faces. Similar effects were shown in the depictions of individual faces.
Cleveland Museum of Art's collection of the Southern Song Dynasty anonymous "Daozi Mobao" (two of them)
In addition, the Cleveland Museum of Art has a set of anonymous "Daozi Mobao" in the Southern Song Dynasty, one of which is a painting of an immortal king riding a high-headed horse, surrounded by ceremonial guards before and after, which is quite similar to the composition of this product. One of them depicts Zhang Tianjun, which seems to be the source of Lei Zhenzi's image.
Part of Qiu Ying's "Linguan Xiu White Drawing of Arhats" in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Some of Qiu Ying's group portrait paintings in the Ming Dynasty are the continuation and development of the "Chaoyuan Immortal Battle Map", and his "Linguan Xiu White Drawing Arhat Map" happens to be a white drawing work, which can show the brushstroke lines more intuitively, and some of the images of Rui Beast, King Kong, and Fan Monk are similar to the images of some military generals in this product. This kind of group portrait should have had a profound influence on the creation of colorful group portrait porcelain in the Xi Dynasty.
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By the Ming Dynasty, the "Four Immortals" character combination composed of Hanshan, Shide, Bang Hai and Tiegui Li had repeatedly appeared in the literature and images, and the Ming scholar Li Rihua described in detail in the "Notes on Liuyanzhai" that the above four immortals were included in the "Four Immortals Ancient Statues". In the opera novel "The Story of the Green Robe" in the Wanli period, the above four immortals are connected into a poem. Shiyun "Tie Guan is an old fairy head, and the bangs will never end." Hanshan found a heart and harmony, and everyone laughed at my unkempt head." The provenance of the four immortals has nothing to do with the chronology, but the common feature of "unkempt" connects the four people to form a combined image of the "four immortals".
Left: Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Right: Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Searching public and private collections, it can be seen that there are two categories of the same type of large-scale mallet bottles: blue and white and colorful. And I like to use the theme of character stories into the painting. For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States has a pair of 80-centimeter-high multicolored mallet bottles, which are painted with the theme of Guo Ziyi's birthday celebration. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, also has a mallet bottle with the same volume of colorful character stories, and the movement of the trees and the painting method of the mountains and rocks in the corner of the picture are exactly the same as this product, which is presumed to be the same person's hand.
Left: Victoria and Albert Museum collection
Right: China Guardian, December 3, 2020, lot 2434
For blue and white works of the same size, see a blue and white mallet vase with a story of the story of the West Chamber from the Victoria and Albert Museum in the United Kingdom and a blue and white Lintong bucket with a treasure map from China Guardian's 2020 autumn auctions.
Bibliography: "Literary Excellence: Jieruitang Collection of Kangxi Shengshi Porcelain", edited by Ni Yibin, Bruge, 2017, pp. 22-25, fig. 1
This product is huge, the momentum is quite magnificent, its whole body colorful decoration color is rich, colorful and eye-catching, and it lives up to the reputation of Kangxi's "hard color pole rail". Its ornament is created by the literati paintings of the Song and Ming dynasties, the composition is rigorous, the theme is prominent, the characters are depicted vividly and delicately, the pen is exquisite, and the people of the time are able to do the best things.
Lot 1171
Qing Yongzheng
Pastel imitation of Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace" picture gall bottle
H: 45.5 cm
Source:
D. Asbury Collection of Mrs. S. Astbury, 9 November 1951, acquired from Malcolm Smith, Sykesshire, Malcolm Anderson Gallery (with photo of purchase receipt)
马尔科姆· 安德森（Malcolm Anderson）艺廊购买票据
The essence of this product lies in the meticulous depiction of the lady's posture, clothing and other details, which belongs to the typical method of Gewu, and its style can be said to be directly after Song Huizong. Just like the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Song Huizong (Biography) "Imitation of Zhang Xuan's Pounding Practice", its depiction of ladies is fine, and the clothing and ornaments are even similar to this product. And the one who gets the true meaning of this should belong to Tang Yin, such as Tang Yin's "Wang Shu Palace Prostitute Picture" in the Palace Museum. His painting of this kind of work-giving ladies is indeed the crown of the times.
Left: Detail of Song Huizong's "Imitation of Zhang Xuan's Pounding Practice" in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Right: Tang Yin's "Wang Shu Palace Prostitute" from the Palace Museum
What's more noteworthy is that the exact mother of this product can be found in the right corner scene of Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace". And the mother of this part, depicting the lady leading two daughters and a son, looking at the railing, the most characteristic is the huge lotus-shaped stone pot, planting a huge ancient dried plum, this kind of camouflage plum pile is quite popular with the Qing Dynasty emperors, the Kangxi Emperor had made "Maoqin Hall Ancient Dry Plum" Yongnan Garden cultivated plum blossoms, Qianlong period, Qianlong Emperor made "Yangxin Palace Ancient Dry Plum", and ordered Zou Yigui to draw "Ancient Dry Plum Blossom Map" (now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei). This kind of Qing Dynasty court interest may be the connotation of this product as the mother of the topic.
This product
Part of Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Collection of the Musée Guimet, France
Part of Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Coincidentally, the Musée Guimet in France has a pastel gall bottle (collection number: G685), and its decorative pattern is also a corner of the picture of Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace", and its screenshot is on the left side of the product, and what is even more amazing is that the length of the two intercepted pictures is the same, and the layout of the Guimet picture is very close to the painting, but it also hides details such as the pavilion. This product hides the railing on the other side of the river and replaces it with mountain rocks. This trade-off of the original is to preserve the integrity of the main picture while making it more suitable for porcelain decoration. The size and shape of these two gall bottles are the same, and the decorative patterns are all pictures of Qiu Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace", which were originally a pair. It is more likely that the "Spring Dawn of the Han Palace" was used as the basis to fire this type of gallbladder bottle in a complete set, and its grade directly caught up with the twelve flower gods. Through the porcelain-making process presented by these two products, the selection of the picture and the re-layout of the plot, the traces of strict control of the inner court are revealed everywhere, which is really a good work of Yongzheng Imperial Kiln.
Beijing auction, 20 December 2017, lot 2319
On December 20, 2017, a Yongzheng pastel peach gallbladder bottle was released, which was sold for 10.695 million yuan. From this, it can be inferred that this kind of porcelain is based on the paintings collected by the inner court, and the porcelain produced is not vulgar, and it should be the porcelain directly instructed by the inner court.
The Palace Museum collects the Song Dynasty Anonymous "Peach Picture"
Lot 1170
Ming Chongxiang
The blue and white ladies play horses with a large pen holder
H: 21.9 cm
Bibliography/Exhibitions:
"Floating Beings· Chinese Porcelain in the Seventeenth Century: Blue and White Figures, by Jin Liyan and Yang Ou, Beijing Arts and Crafts Publishing House, 2023, pp. 510, 511, fig. 157
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The most attractive feature of this product is the wonderful skill displayed by the ladies on horseback, the horses are plump and robust, and have the characteristics of northern horses. This kind of presentation of horses is very similar to the depiction of the two horses in Yang Wei's "Two Horses" in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum. The "Autumn Hunting Map" of Qiu Ying (paragraph) in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei also shows the scene of horse hunting, which can be said to have a far-reaching influence on the patterns of swords and horses in Chongzhen and even the early Qing Dynasty.
(Partial view of this product)
Liaoning Provincial Museum collection of Jin Yangwei's "Erjun Picture" part
Part of Qiu Ying's "Autumn Hunting Map" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Circus is a folk stunt that has been passed down for thousands of years, also known as "walking horses and selling solutions". Circus performers have superb riding skills, and make a living from the fact that they perform all kinds of difficult maneuvers on their horses to win the rewards of the audience. From the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, with the development of the times, the connotation of circus has become richer and richer, and the audience has become more and more extensive.
"Hundred Yong Atlas", edited and illustrated by Gu Zhengyi of the Ming Dynasty, published in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli (1598).
In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli (1598), there is an article "Walking Horse Prostitute" in the "Hundred Yongtu Atlas", and the illustration depicts this scene, which is similar to this product, or is the mother of this product. However, there is a slight gap between the depiction of the horses and this product, which is closer to the northern horse form of Yang Wei's "Two Horses" mentioned above.
Lot 1169
Ming Chongxiang
Blue and white magpie bridge meets fairy character story tube bottle
H: 46 cm
This product is entitled to Queqiao Xiandu, this kind of theme in the Ming and Qing dynasties porcelain decoration, the most well-known is in the Qing Dynasty festival bowl, used for Chongzhen porcelain painting, quite rare. The Magpie Bridge is presented as a physical bridge, and the top decoration is decorated with flying magpies to express the Magpie Bridge. The group portrait of the ladies on the bridge is quite distinctive, even more vivid than the scene of the meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
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National Palace Museum in Taipei collection Qiu Ying's "Begging Picture"
Qixi Festival is also known as "Qiqiao Festival" and "Daughter's Day", and the most important custom is women's begging activities. On the night of Qixi Festival, women wear seven-hole needles with colored threads, set up incense tables in the courtyard, put melons and fruits, flowers, wine, needlework, etc., beg to the weaver girl, and in the Song Dynasty, they will also put a kind of hand-pinched small clay figurines "grinding and drinking" as an offering to the gods. Qiu Ying's "Begging Picture" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei is a woman's begging activity, with scenes of needle threading and worship. The group portrait of the ladies on the Magpie Bridge is very likely to show this begging activity.
Bibliography: "Ming Yun Qingfeng - Chen Wei Congming Qing Collection· Porcelain, edited by Chen Weicong, Lingnan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2011, pp. 22-25, fig. 7
Lot 1173
Qing Kangxi
Blue and white "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden Preface" character poems and large pen holders
D: 17 cm
"Ming Chenghua year" six-character double-line regular book, with a wooden seat
Source:
Former collection of the state-owned cultural relics company
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In the picture, "poet immortal" Li Bai and his friends sit around the banquet, in the garden, the lanterns are hung high, the moonlight is bright, three or five confidants, drinking and laughing, or persuading to drink, or waiting, or holding a long scroll, about to fall ink, surrounded by travertine trees, the characters are vivid, the posture is different, the blue and white hair color is strong, the brushstrokes are delicate and fresh, vividly showing a poet on a moonlit night to write poems, drink wine and comfortable scene. Next to the picture, there is a "Preface to the Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden" by Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty, "The man who husbands heaven and earth, the reverse journey of all things." Those who have passed through time have passed by for hundreds of generations. And floating like a dream, for the joy of geometry? The ancients traveled at night with candles, and there was a good thing. The situation of Yangchun summoned me to smoke the scene, and the large piece of fake me to the article. The garden of peach and plum will be the joy of the family. The group of seasons is handsome, all of them are Huilian. I sing songs, and I am ashamed of recreation. The reward is not over, and the talk is clear. Open a feast to sit on the flowers, fly the feathers and get drunk with the moon. If there is no good work, how can he Shen Yahuai? If the poem is not successful, the penalty will depend on the number of wine in the Golden Valley. "The handwriting is neat and beautiful.
Part of Qiu Ying's "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden" in the National Palace Museum in Taipei
The peach and plum garden of the spring night banquet belongs to one of the Gao Shiya collection maps, and has been copied in the past dynasties. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has the Southern Song Dynasty Liu Songnian (biography) "Eighteen Bachelors", which can be the representative of Song Yi in this elegant collection. Qiu Ying painted with the title of "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden", that is, Qiu Ying's "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the composition is similar, but the enemy is more realistic, the desk is all dining utensils, and the desk of this product is mainly based on the pen inkstone study, which is interesting to read.
Left: Yongzheng's works from the collection of the Shanghai Museum Right: From the collection of the Palace Museum
Searching public and private collections, it can be seen that the Palace Museum has a Qing Kangxi blue and white Coats poetry pen holder, the content of the picture is the same as this product, and the color style of the trees, mountains and stones, and the blue and white color style are also very similar to this product. In addition, the Shanghai Museum's collection of Qing Yongzheng pastel Spring Night Banquet peach and plum garden picture pen holder is also a similar theme work, which can be compared.
Second, Dong Qichang's literati interest to the four kings
The painter's six methods are vivid. Qi Yun can't be learned, this life knows it, it has its own God, but there is also a place to learn. Read 10,000 books, travel 10,000 miles, get rid of dust in your chest, camp in the natural hills and ravines, and stand up as a hue.
——Dong Qichang, "Essays on Painting Zen Room"
Dong Qichang
Dong Qichang (1555-1636), known as Xuanzai, Sibai, Siweng, Xiangguang Jushi, was a native of Huating (now Songjiang, Shanghai). In the sixteenth year of Wanli (1588), he was a scholar, and the official went to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. Calligraphy is a family of its own, Yan Yu at the beginning, after chasing Wei and Jin, transferring to Zhong Wang, in the rate of easy to get beautiful, its branches are white, sparse and beautiful, but also distinctive. He is good at landscapes, pays attention to the ink rhyme, and the painting is clear and beautiful. Divide landscape painting into the north and south sects, and respect the southern sect for the literati to paint the right line. The style and theory of painting had a great influence on later generations.
The Palace Museum has a part of Wang Xu's "Little Snow in a Fishing Village" in the Northern Song Dynasty
Lot 1167
Qing Yongzheng
Ink color landscape figure pattern large pen holder
D: 17 cm
"Yongzheng year" four-character double-line regular book, Yongzheng dynasty
Source:
The old collection of Guangzhou Cultural Relics General Store;
Guangzhou Auction, 22 June 2008, Lot 101
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Ink color is one of the varieties of ceramic glaze color, it is different from the traditional black color, it is mainly black, and the color materials such as alum red and principal are used to paint on porcelain, and then baked by a low-temperature color furnace of about 800 °C. It was first seen in the Kangxi period and prevailed in the Yongzheng, Qianlong and Guangxu periods.
This product is painted with ink to paint a literati landscape, the mountains and stones, the tree law are the true meaning of the teacher, but also try to express the feeling of ink and ink rubbing, full of painting. Dong Qichang's "Picture of the Immortal Pavilion of Streams and Mountains" in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum can quite reflect the characteristics of his ink landscapes, and the details such as mountains and rocks and trees are very similar to this product.
Tokyo National Museum collection of Dong Qichang's "Picture of the Immortal Pavilion of the Mountains"
The depiction of this product attaches more importance to the taste of pen and ink, which is an excellent inheritance of the brushwork of Dong's literati landscape, and is a perfect presentation of the connotation of "lying down" implied by it. It is used as the decoration of the desk study, which is quite in line with the spiritual needs of the people of the time who are fond of the landscape and the wandering spirit.
Left: Collection of the Palace Museum
Right: Collection of the Shanghai Museum
Left: Hong Kong auction 1 June 2016, lot 3213
Right: China Guardian (Hong Kong) April 7, 2024, Lot 570
There are very few well-preserved ink and color vessels that have been handed down so far, especially the pen holders are even rarer, consult the relevant publications, and see that the Shanghai Museum has a Yongzheng ink color pen holder, which can be used as a reference. Another Yongzheng imitation wood grain glaze ink color landscape pen holder, hidden in the Palace Museum in Beijing. A recent example of a "Du Fu You Chun" pen holder can be seen in the market, which was once in the collection of Zhuyuetang in Hong Kong, sold at China Guardian (Hong Kong) on April 7, 2024, lot 570, sold for 10.32 million Hong Kong dollars. It can also be seen that a Qing Yongzheng imitation wood grain glaze ink color Coats staff drawing pen holder, has been exhibited at the Yale University Art Museum and the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and then sold at the Hong Kong auction, June 1, 2016, lot 3213, sold for 34.84 million Hong Kong dollars, the main landscape view is similar to the brushwork of this product. Although the above two examples are different from the four-character paragraph of this product, which is a six-character three-line paragraph, it is not difficult to see that it is written by the same person, which can be compared.
Dong Qichang is the master of literati painting in the Ming Dynasty and an important figure in summarizing the development of Chinese art history. He put forward many aesthetic ideas, which were the criterion for the development of Chinese painting in the later period, and later generations of painters regarded his painting theory as the guideline. The Four Kings are the inheritance of Dong Qichang, Wang Shimin studied painting with Dong Qichang, inheriting and carrying forward the development and inheritance of literati painting from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. Wang Hui gradually developed into a literati painting documentary style, which was also in line with the needs of the royal family and aesthetic pursuit.
Part of Wang Hui's "Kangxi Southern Tour Picture Scroll" (Volume 7, Wuxi to Jiangsu) in the University of Alberta Museum, Canada
Lot 1166
Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty
Pastel West Lake Ten Scenes, "Quyuan Wind Lotus", "Willow Waves Singing Oriole" landscape pavilion picture a pair
D: 11.4、11 cm
This product depicts the two scenes of the lotus wind in the Quyuan and the willow waves and the two scenes of the warbler in the ten scenes of the West Lake, which are painted in a meticulous style and quite a documentary style. Among the four kings, Wang Yuanqi made the "Ten Scenes of the West Lake", which is now stored in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, which may have a guiding meaning for the composition and framing of the ten scenes of the West Lake in the porcelain decoration of the Qing Dynasty. However, the style of Gongzhi is still closer to the documentary landscape style of Wang Hui mentioned above, and his "Kangxi Southern Tour Picture Scroll" is one of the representatives, such as the seventh volume of "Kangxi Southern Tour Picture Scroll" in the University of Alberta Museum in Canada, Wuxi to Jiangsu, in which the landscape and pavilion painting techniques have obvious inheritance relationships.
The "Ten Views of the West Lake" was first said to have originated from the Southern Song Dynasty Zhu Mu's "Fang Yu Shenglan", "the painter who is close to the lake and the mountain said that there are ten of the most strange scenery in the four seasons, saying: Spring Dawn at Su Causeway, Lotus Wind in Quyuan, Autumn Moon on Ping Lake, Remnant Snow on Broken Bridge, Oriole in Willow Waves, Fish Viewing in Flower Harbor, Thunder Peak Falling Photos, Two Peaks Inserting Clouds, Nanping Evening Bell, and Three Towers of West Lake."
Part of Dong Bangda's "Singing Orioles in the Willow Waves" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
When Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty toured Hangzhou in the south, he changed the "Quyuan Lotus Wind" to "Quyuan Wind Lotus". When Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, he inscribed several times and erected a monument next to the West Lake. According to the record of the "Qing Palace Office Work File", in the 24th year of Qianlong (1759), in February (Ruyi Pavilion), "on the first day of the first month of this month, the chief Gui Yuan handed over ten poems of the ten scenes of the West Lake, and Dong Bangda painted ten pictures of the ten scenes of the West Lake...... The purpose is to frame the album of calligraphy and painting of the ten scenes of West Lake...... Chin this". The album mentioning Dong Bangda's paintings and Qianlong's imperial pen poems in the archives has not been found, but it can be seen that there are many works with this theme. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has two sets of poems and texts painted by Dong Bangda and inscribed by Qianlong on the Ten Scenes of the West Lake (both recorded in the "Treasure of the Stone Canal"), one of which is directly inscribed on Dong Bangda's paintings, and there is no date; the other is a circular poetry hall mounted on the paintings, and two poems of the Ten Views of the West Lake are written, one in Xinwei (1751, the same as the former's poems) and the other in Ding Chou (1757). The composition of his paintings is highly similar, and if you think of the album mentioned in "Qing File", the poems and paintings should be similar.
This product
Part of Dong Bangda's "Wind and Lotus Picture of Quyuan" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Comparing Dong Bangda's "Wind and Lotus Picture of Quyuan" and "Singing Orioles in the Willow Waves", it can be seen that there are many very similar compositions, details and brushwork with this product. It can be inferred from this that this product should be made by Dong Bangda with the ten scenes of the West Lake painted by Qianlong imperial inscription poems. Although there is no imperial inscription poem in this product, through the above-mentioned many poems and paintings matching works, it can be known that this product should be a work of transmission under the instruction of Emperor Qianlong, and it must be played by the inner court.
3. Chen Hongshou's legacy of the Jin and Tang Dynasties
However, today's writers, those who learn from the Song Dynasty lose their craftsman, why not? do not take Tang Liuye, and those who learn from the Yuan Dynasty lose their wildness, why not? Do not trace the origin of the Song Dynasty. If the rhyme of the Tang Dynasty, the plate of the Song Dynasty, the reason of the Song Dynasty, and the style of the Yuan, it will be a great success.
——Chen Hongshou "Baolun Tang Collection"
The Palace Museum collection of Chen Hongshou's "Jin Jue"
Chen Hongshou
Chen Hongshou (1598-1652), the character Zhanghou, the young name Lianzi, a Xu An, the old lotus, the alias Xiaojing, the late name Lao Chi, regret late. His painting techniques are concise, the colors are calm and subtle, and the style is ancient. It was as famous as Shuntian Cui Zizhong at that time, known as "South Chen and North Cui". His achievements in figure painting are described as "the strength of the momentum, the superb, above the Qiu (Ying) and the Tang (Yin), Gai Ming has not had such brushwork for 300 years", and contemporary international scholars have praised him as "the first of many artists who have a thoroughly personal and unique style in the seventeenth century".
Part of the British Museum's collection of "Female Historians" (Tang facsimile).
Left: Kan Xiu's "Arhat Picture" (Song facsimile) from the collection of the Imperial Household Agency Sannomaru Shozo of Japan
Right: The Sixteen Arhats of the Southern Song Dynasty (Part 1) in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum
Chen Hongshou may have been influenced by the ancient styles such as "The Female Historian" and the strange arhats painted by Guan Xiu, so that his characters chose a more ancient generalized image, pursuing god-likeness, and did not completely inherit the requirements of the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty for real-life experience and the style of pen and ink taste. Chen's prints are characterized by the depiction of the personality of the characters, and the technique of double-hook white drawing and the simplification of brush and ink after woodcarving make it more suitable for porcelain decoration. The popularization of secularized themes such as birthday celebrations and auspicious meanings has also formed more elegant and popular patterns, and even influenced the emergence of painters like Shen Quan in the Qing Dynasty who took the immortalization and auspicious intentions as the main creative direction, and then influenced the development and evolution of porcelain decorative patterns in official and private kilns in the early Qing Dynasty.
Lushun Museum Collection of Shen Quan's "Bailu Picture"
Lot 1162
Qing Yongzheng
Blue and white crane and deer with the spring "birthday" picture bowl
"Yongzheng Year System of the Great Qing Dynasty" six-character three-line regular script, Yongzheng Dynasty
D: 19 cm
Source:
Private collection in Shanghai
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This product has the advantages of blue and white porcelain painting in the Kangyong and Yong dynasties. In the picture, the trunk of the tree is slender and curved, the branches and leaves are fresh and handsome, and the trunk and the ground are dyed with dots, highlighting the strong branches of the pine tree and the majesty of the mountain stone. Between the auspicious clouds and on the mountain rocks, the cranes swoop, raise their heads, flap their wings, the posture is different, the hook point dyeing is not insufficient, the hair and feathers are all visible, the natural transformation of the realm, the picture is particularly wonderful, not the ordinary potter can do it. From the point of view of decorative style, this product still retains more painting styles of the Kangxi period, but compared with the Xi Dynasty, this product has more delicate texture of Yongzheng porcelain, and has the artistic conception of calligraphy and painting. Therefore, it is speculated that this product should be the work of the early imperial kiln of Yongzheng, or it may be the work of Tang Yingyu pottery, which can be seen from its crane posture and the charm of Song Huizong's "Rui Crane Map".
Liaoning Provincial Museum collection of Song Huizong's "Crane Picture" part
Although this product has appeared like Shen Quan's painting style development trend, but for the pine tree method, mountain stone and even double hook leaf painting, are similar to Chen Hongshou's simple style, can be compared with the Liaoning Provincial Museum collection of Chen Hongshou's "Bucket Sketch", its pine and Qiu trend, and this product is quite similar.
Liaoning Provincial Museum collection of Chen Hongshou's "Fighting Sketch" part
This product is even more noteworthy, next to the pine, there is a peach tree, a pine and a peach, intertwined. The peach tree bears peaches, the fruit is full, fresh and tender. Although it is rare to add the image of "peach tree" to the pine crane longevity map, in the Yongzheng Imperial Kiln, the crane and the peach often appear in pairs as auspicious patterns.
Emperor Yongzheng was the emperor of the Qing Dynasty who most admired Taoism, attached great importance to auspicious Fuying, and invited Taoist priests to make alchemy medicine in the Old Summer Palace in order to seek immortality. In his early portrait "Yinzhen Lang Yin Pavilion Map", there is an image of him accompanied by deer, cranes and other fairy birds and beasts, and fairy peach and Ganoderma lucidum are also Yinzhen's favorites. Therefore, the bowl is full of the beautiful meaning of Taoism's "eternal life", and the expression technique is extremely subtle and elegant, which can be called a unique product in the imperial kiln of the Qing Dynasty.
Hong Kong auction, 30 November 2023, lot 2841
This product is known as Hong Kong lot2841
From the painting theme of this product, it is speculated that it should be burned by the court in the Yongzheng period and used for birthday celebrations. Retrieving public and private collections, the same decorative patterns may be visible, but those decorated in this style imitate the large bowl type of Xuan kiln, which can be called rare. For those who know the same type and style, it can be seen that a Yongzheng landscape bowl was sold at the 2023 Hong Kong Autumn Auction, No. 2841, and sold for HK$1.13 million.
Lot 1164
Ming Chongxiang
Blue and white Ning Xianwang "send the heavenly master" fairy poetry intention cylinder bottle
The inscription "hurriedly returned to the fairy mansion, in order to ask the peach ripe." ”
H: 45.6 cm
Source:
Old collection of Shanghai Cultural Relics Store
The storyline depicted on the abdomen of this product is the same as the porcelain decorative pattern of "Lu Dongbin Three Degrees of Chengnan Willow". However, in the corner of the picture, the inscription is the last sentence of "Sending the Heavenly Master" by Zhu Quan, King Ning of the Ming Dynasty: "Hurriedly returned to the Immortal Mansion, in order to ask if the peach was ripe." ”
The analysis of the picture can be divided into two types. First, it is still to describe the storyline of "Lu Dongbin Three Degrees of Chengnanliu", and the poems and texts are chosen by the craftsman to fit the meaning of the painting. The second is to deliberately show the scene of Ning Wang Zhu Quan sending the heavenly master, the poems and paintings match, as for the willow spirit, or to echo the first sentence of the poem "frost falls on the willow shadow of Zhicheng". The miscellaneous drama "Lv Dongbin Three Degrees of Chengnan Willow" written by Yuanren Gu Zijing tells the story of Lu Dongbin's three passes through Yueyang Tower and the willow tree essence and peach blossom essence in the south of the city. There is no peach blossom essence in the scene depicted in this product, or it is the story of the fourth fold of the old willow in the south of the city after he beheaded the peach blossom essence with the sword of Lu Xian, or it is referred to as the peach with the depiction of the broken branch peach along the mouth of this product.
Tianjin Museum Collection Chen Hongshou "Banana Forest Wine Drinking Picture"
This product belongs to the typical style of the Chongzhen period, and its inheritance relationship with Chen Hongshou is quite intuitive. Looking at the figure's face, clothing pattern, posture, banana leaves, travertine, you can refer to Chen Hongshou's "Banana Forest Wine Drinking Map" in the Tianjin Museum, and the above mentioned details can be reflected one by one.
Mr. Weng Wange's collection of "Du Fu" from Chen Hongshou's "Bogu Leaves"
What's more interesting is that compared with the "Du Fu" of Mr. Weng Wange's collection of "Bogu Leaves", it seems to be a copy of the image of Coats in the banana forest, and it is more similar to the image of the characters in this product. However, according to the inscription at the beginning of the article, it can be seen that it was composed in the late autumn of Xinmao, that is, in the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651), which is later than the era of porcelain firing, and has a typical continuity in style.
In addition, it is also worth noting that the method on porcelain cannot be simply compared to the pen and ink method, and the feeling of bald pen and brush presented by paper and pen cannot be presented on porcelain. On porcelain, the method of striking is to replace it with lines (phi linen) or rendering (axe splitting). The painting method of the mountains and rocks in the Chongzhen period presented by this product is to outline the lines, draw small short lines inside, and add rendering, which can be said to be a typical painting method of the Chongzhen period, which is also consistent with the simple style of Chen Hongshou's lines and rendering without decoration.
Bibliography: Appreciation of Qing Dynasty Porcelain, edited by Qian Zhenzong, Zhonghua Book Company (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Science and Technology Publishing House, 1994, p. 25, fig. 6
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