YAN CIPING (12th century)

Herdboy Playing the Flute Astride a Waterbuffalo

Details

YAN CIPING (12th century)
Herdboy Playing the Flute Astride a Waterbuffalo
Oval fan, ink and color on silk, 10.1/8 x 10in. (25.7 x 26.7cm.)
Inscribed and signed: Yan Ciping
Dated ding wei year (1187)
Collectors' seals include: Yan Zhi Xin Shang, two of Wu Rongguang (1773-1843), Rong Guang Zhi Yin, He Wu Zeng Guan; one of Pan Zhengwei (1791-1816), Ji Tong Jian Ding; one of Kong Guangtao (ca. 1850-1880), Shao Tang Ping Sheng Xin Shang; and one of Yu Mingzhen (late Qing dynasty), Yi Xuan Jian Ding
With a colophon on the mounting by Wu Rongguang

Provenance

Stephen Junkunc, III

Literature

Pan Zhengwei, Tingfanlou shuhuaji, chapter 1, p. 28
Xu Bangda, Lidai liuquan shuhua zuopin bian bing biao, p. 4
Yu Jianhua, Zhongguo meishujia renming cedian, pp. 1439-1440 (for biographical information)
National Palace Museum Taipei, Songdai shuhua ceye mingpin tezhan, p. 258

Lot Essay

When Yan Ciping presented his first painting to the court, the Song emperor Xiaozong was duly impressed and rewarded him with an official position. Yan had studied under the tutelage of his father, the famous painter Yan Zong, and eventually surpassed him in talent. Yan painted landscapes, figures, and was especially known for his oxen. His work has been compared to Li Tang. Yan is best known for his master work, Playing the Flute Astride an Ox, painted in the fourteenth year of the Chunxi era (1187).