Currently not on view
Pear Blossoms and Bird (Lihua shanque 梨花山雀),
undated; 14th century
Anonymous
Chinese
Yuan dynasty, 1279–1368 to Ming dynasty, 1368–1644
1998-108
A single bird on a flowering branch, this composition exemplifies the genre of early bird-and-flower painting. The artist was particularly interested in color, patterns, surface texture, and a sense of decorative richness. In the eighteenth-century imperial painting catalogue Shiqu baoji, this painting is recorded as an authentic work by the tenth-century master Huang Quan (903–968), whose spurious signature is hidden in the tree branch along the lower-right margin. Recent scholarship now attributes it to a follower of the noted painter Qian Xuan (about 1235–after 1300), working in the fourteenth century in southern China.
Information
Title
Pear Blossoms and Bird (Lihua shanque 梨花山雀)
Dates
undated; 14th century
Maker
Medium
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Painting: 91.5 x 30.7 cm. (36 x 12 1/16 in.)
Mount: 261.5 x 52.2 cm. (102 15/16 x 20 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951
Object Number
1998-108
Place Made
Asia, China
Signatures
signed (lower right branch; spurious): Huang Quan 黃筌 [903–68]
Inscription
Qianlong emperor (Qing dyn., r. 1736–1795), dated 1758
Marks/Labels/Seals
Eleven characters in ink on label adhered to edge of rolled scroll
Xiang Yuanbian項元汴 (1525-1590)
"Shen pin" 神品, tall rect. relief (right, 2nd from bottom)
"Tianlaige" 天籟閣, tall rect. (bottom right corner)
"Zijing" 子京, oval relief (left, 3rd from bottom)
"Xiang Yuanbian yin" 項元汴印, square relief (left, 2nd from bottom)
"Molin shanren" 墨林山人, square intaglio (bottom left corner)
Qianlong emp. (r. 1736-95), 8 seals
" Qianlong yulan zhi bao" 乾隆御覽之寳, oval relief (upper right corner)
"Yangxindian jian cang bao" 養心殿鑑藏印, tall rect. relief (right, 3rd from top)
" Qianlong jian [shang]" 乾隆鑑賞, round intaglio (right, above inscription)
"Qian" 乾, square, 1/2 relief 1/2 intagio; & "Long" 隆, square 1/2 intaglio 1/2 relief (respectively top & bottom, below last line of inscription)
"Yi zi sun" 宜子孫, square intaglio (2nd from both top & right)
"Sanxitang jing jian xi," 三希堂精鑑璽 tall rect., relief (top, 2nd from right)
"Shiqu baoji," 石渠寶笈 tall rect., relief (left, top)
Jiaqing 嘉慶 emperor (r. 1796-1820)
" Jiaqing yulan zhi bao," 嘉慶御覽之寳 oval relief (top, 3rd from right)
"Shiqu jijian" 石渠繼鑑, sq. relief (right, 3rd from bottom)
Xuantong 宣統 emperor (r. 1909-1911)
" Xuantong yulan zhi bao" 宣統御覽之寳, square relief (right, 2nd from top)
Chen Rentao陳仁濤 (1906-1968)
"Jingui, guobao wu shuang" 金匱國寶無雙 oval, part relief, part intaglio (top, 2nd from left)
" Jingui baocang, Chen shi Rentao" 金匱寶藏陳氏仁濤 coin-shaped relief (left, middle)
"Rentao qiyuan" 仁濤奇緣 oval relief (bottom left)
"Wu shuang" 无雙 square relief (left, 4th from bottom) [Chen's?]
"Jinguishi jing jian xi" 金匱室精鑒璽 square relief (bottom, 2nd from left)
Culture
Materials
Subject
–1998 John B. Elliott (Princeton, NJ), by bequest to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1998.
- Wen C. Fong, Images of the mind: selections from the Edward L. Elliott family and John B. Elliott collections of Chinese calligraphy and painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1984)., cat. no. 26
-
"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 61 (2002): p. 49-99.
, p. 85
