.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Wang Meng (1308-1385), courtesy name Shuming, sobriquet Huanghe Shanqiao, Xiangguang Jushi, was a native of Wuxing (now Huzhou in Zhejiang province) and the grandson of the renowned Yuan master Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322). He excelled in calligraphy, poetry and painting, especially landscape painting. Wang’s innovative and unique style reflected the influence of the old masters Wang Wei (701-761), Dong Yuan (934-circa 962) and Ju Ran (10th Century) and his studies of nature. Wang and Huang Gongwang (1269-1354), Wu Zhen (1280-1354) and Ni Zhan (1301-1374) have been known as the Four Great Masters of the Yuan Dynasty.Landscape with studio is a subject matter that Wang adopted very often. For example, Studying by the Window with Pine, a handscroll documented in the Catalogue of the Qing Imperial Collection (Shiqu Baoji), now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei; and Writing Books under the Pine Trees, a double album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio. Scent of Celestial Flora has an imperial package: a wooden box incised on the cover with the artist’s name and title of the handscroll; a silk brocade wrap whose interior is painted with a rectangular stamp stating that the artist’s painting is authentic and of superior quality; and a carved jade toggle incised on the reverse “Qianlong’s poem on this work by Wang Meng”. Studies on the collectors’ seals of this painting reveal that it had been circulated amongst private collectors until the early Qing dynasty when Weng Songnian (1647-1728) offered it as a tribute to the Qing court. In 1763, Emperor Qianlong inscribed a poem on the painting. Based on the inscriptions by Chen Jieqi (1813-1884) on the reverse of the cover of the wooden box, Qianlong most probably had bestowed this handscroll to Liu Tongxun (1698-1773), one of his favourite officials. Liu then passed it on to his son Liu Yong (1719-1805) who eventually sold it to Chen Jieqi. This handscroll has the imperial collection seal ‘Shiqu Baoji’, yet it was not documented in the book. As this painting had possibly been given out during the period 1763-1773, which was within a time frame of 46 years between 1745 when the Catalogue of the Qing Imperial Collection (Shiqu Baoji) was released and 1791 when the compilation of the Catalogue of the Qing Imperial Collection Part II (Shiqu Baoji Xubian) was due to commence, therefore it bears no record in the Shiqu Baoji. Nevertheless, its imperial past is a fact, as justified by Qianlong’s poem on the painting, which corresponded with the one published in Imperial Poems Volume 3, Book (juan) 34; and its imperial accessories. Furthermore, the painting was documented in Connoisseurship in Paintings and Calligraphy (Shuhua Jianying), an acknowledged reference book written by the famous Qing connoisseur Li Zuoxian (1807-1876).
WANG MENG (1308-1385)
Scent of Celestial Flora
Details
WANG MENG (1308-1385)
Scent of Celestial Flora
Handscroll, ink and colour on paper
28 x 112.5 cm. (11 x 44 1/4 in.)
Signed, with one seal of the artist
Inscribed with a poem by Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), signed, with two seals
Dated mid autumn, guiwei year (1763)
Five colophons: Zhang Zhu (1287-1368), signed with three seals
Li Qi (13th - 14th Century), signed with one seal, dated ninth month, gengzi year of the Zhizheng period (1360)
Zhang Dashan (13th-14th Century), signed with one seal
Chen Yi (1469-1538), signed with two seals, dated fourth month, xinsi year of the Zhengde period (1521)
Tang Han (1887-1967), signed with one seal
Sixteen collectors’ seals, including two of Mu Lin (?-1485), one of Wang Shizhen (1526-1590), one of Zhou Kianggong (1612-1672) and five of Emperor Qianlong
Frontispece by Liu Kan (17th-18th Century)
Accompanied by a wooden box with inscriptions of Chen Jieqi (1813-1884) on the reverse of the cover, a silk brocade wrap and a jade toggle.
LITERATURE:
Li Zuoxian, Connoisseurship in Paintings and Calligraphy (Shuhua Qianying) Book 5, 1871, pp.18-20.
Sequels to Selections of Art Connoisseurship: Connoisseurship in Paintings and Calligraphy by Li Zuoxian, Hanhua Cultural Business Holdings Company Limited, Taipei, February 1971, pp. 319-323.
Full Collection of Poetry by Emperor Qianlong, Volume 4, People’s University Publishing House, Beijing, August 1993, p. 723 (Imperial Poems Volume 3, Book [juan] 34).
Scent of Celestial Flora
Handscroll, ink and colour on paper
28 x 112.5 cm. (11 x 44 1/4 in.)
Signed, with one seal of the artist
Inscribed with a poem by Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), signed, with two seals
Dated mid autumn, guiwei year (1763)
Five colophons: Zhang Zhu (1287-1368), signed with three seals
Li Qi (13th - 14th Century), signed with one seal, dated ninth month, gengzi year of the Zhizheng period (1360)
Zhang Dashan (13th-14th Century), signed with one seal
Chen Yi (1469-1538), signed with two seals, dated fourth month, xinsi year of the Zhengde period (1521)
Tang Han (1887-1967), signed with one seal
Sixteen collectors’ seals, including two of Mu Lin (?-1485), one of Wang Shizhen (1526-1590), one of Zhou Kianggong (1612-1672) and five of Emperor Qianlong
Frontispece by Liu Kan (17th-18th Century)
Accompanied by a wooden box with inscriptions of Chen Jieqi (1813-1884) on the reverse of the cover, a silk brocade wrap and a jade toggle.
LITERATURE:
Li Zuoxian, Connoisseurship in Paintings and Calligraphy (Shuhua Qianying) Book 5, 1871, pp.18-20.
Sequels to Selections of Art Connoisseurship: Connoisseurship in Paintings and Calligraphy by Li Zuoxian, Hanhua Cultural Business Holdings Company Limited, Taipei, February 1971, pp. 319-323.
Full Collection of Poetry by Emperor Qianlong, Volume 4, People’s University Publishing House, Beijing, August 1993, p. 723 (Imperial Poems Volume 3, Book [juan] 34).
Brought to you by
Sandy Yom