Lot Essay
Dong Bangda was a native of Fuyang, in Zhejiang Province. His zi, a style or name taken at the age of twenty, was Fucun and his hao, an assumed or alternative name, Dongshan. A painter and calligrapher, he was known as one of The Three Dongs, the other two being Dong Yuan and Dong Qichang. He was highly respected and praised for his landscape paintings, which very often were inscribed with colophons by the Qianlong Emperor. As a calligrapher, he excelled in zhuanshu and lishu. Dong had an outstanding career as a scholar-official at court and ultimately rose to become President of the Ministry of Rites. He participated in the compilation of the Imperial collection catalogues, particularly the Shiqu baoji.