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Lot Essay
The identification of the subjects of these portraits is stated on the titleslips on the mounting of each painting. Shen Zhou (1427-1509) was one of the preeminent painters, calligraphers, and poets in Suzhou in the mid-Ming period. He is considered the founder of the influential Wu School. Shen Zhou married Miss Chen, who was three years his senior and from an illustrious official family, in 1444. Unlike most of the known portraits of Shen Zhou, which depict him as an elderly man, this set shows the couple in mid-life and so suggests they pictures might have been painted during their lifetime and provides an important contribution to the artist's biography.
Wang Jin was a successful government official who hailed from Wuyuan Dafan in Jiangxi province. He attained the jinshi degree in 1464, which makes him approximately a contemporary of Shen Zhou. During his career he held a number of posts in various provinces and the histories relate numerous laudatory stories of his service.
In his inscriptions Wang Jin does not mention the identity of the portrait subjects specifically but describes their characters in glowing terms, suggesting that they were paragons of proper deportment.
Wang Jin was a successful government official who hailed from Wuyuan Dafan in Jiangxi province. He attained the jinshi degree in 1464, which makes him approximately a contemporary of Shen Zhou. During his career he held a number of posts in various provinces and the histories relate numerous laudatory stories of his service.
In his inscriptions Wang Jin does not mention the identity of the portrait subjects specifically but describes their characters in glowing terms, suggesting that they were paragons of proper deportment.