Brushes with History: Chinese Old Master Paintings

Anonymous (early 13th century);
old attribution to
Hui-ch’ung [Huichong] (965?-1017)

‘Geese Descending on Sandbar’

Hanging scroll, ink on paper
53.6 x 26 cm. (21 1/8 x 10 1/4 in.)

Published:
Tokugawa Art Museum: Basara no Jidai-Ocho jidai no Zansho, Kinsei no Ibuki, Nagoya, 1991, pl. 8, p. 20 (where the painting is identified as a Southern Sung work of the 13th century)

(See write up below.)

Anonymous (12th-13th century);
old attribution to
Chao Ling-jang [Zhao Lingrang] (active 1070-1100)

‘Ducks by Willow-lined Shore’

Album leaf, ink and color on silk
25.4 x 24.8 cm. (10 x 9 3/4 in.)

P’u-kuang [Puguang] (active early 14th century)

‘Searching for Plum Blossoms’

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
138 x 73.5 cm. (54 1/4 x 29 in.)

Artist’s seal:
Hsueh-an

(See write up below.)

Tseng Ch’ing [Zeng Qing] (1564-1647)

‘Portrait of Huang Tao-chou’ 1644-1645

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
121.5 x 94.2 cm. (47 7/8 x 37 1/8 in.)

Inscription:
‘Portrait of Minister Huang Shih-chai (Tao-chou), respectfully painted by Tseng Ch’ing of P’u-t’ien.’

Artist’s seal:
P’o-ch’en

Chao Ch’eng [Zhao Cheng]
(1581 -1661 or later)

‘Elegant Feast in the Peach and Pear Garden’ 1652

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
149 x 44.5 cm. (58 5/8 x 17 1/2 in.)

Inscription:
‘Two days after full moon of the eleventh lunar month of the year 1652, Chao Ch’eng, the Old Man of Snowy River, while in the meditation hall of Kan-lu Temple at the age of 71, followed Chao Meng-chien in this T’ao–hua Ya-yen T’u, ‘Elegant Feast in the Peach Garden.’’

Artist’s seals: two
Colophon: Chu Ting-heng

(See write up below.)

Shao Mi (1592?-1642)

‘The Filial Liu Mourning his Parents’ 1631

Handscroll, ink on paper
28 x 87.5 cm. (11 x 34 1/2 in.)

Inscription:
‘During the year 1631 of the Ch’ung-chen reign era, Shao Mi of Ch’ang-chou (Suchou) painted this ‘Dwelling of the Grave’ picture for the filial son Liu Shu-yu at Kua-ch’ou.’

Artist’s seals:
Kua-ch’ou; Shao Mi ssu-yin; Seng-mi

Recorded:
Chang Ta-yung: Tzu-I Yueh-chai Shu-hua Lu (1832), ch. 9, pp. 25-26.

Yun Shou-p’ing [Yun Shouping] (1633-1690)

‘Old Pines and Blue-green Peaks’ 1673

Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
170.6 X 51.8 cm. (67 1/4 x 20 3/8 in.)

Artist’s seals:
Shou-p’ing Yuan-k’o; Shou-p’ing; Ch’eng-shu

Collectors’ seals:
Ch’ing-t’ung chu-shih (Chiang T’ing-hsi, 1669-1773); Jung-feng Chien-shang and Liu-shih Han-pi-chuang yin (Liu Shu, 1759-1816); Tse-ch’un…(possibly Sheng T’ien-hsin, b.1884); and four others, indecipherable

(See write up below.)

Ku Ch’iao [Gu Qiao] (1614-1695 or later), attributed

‘Snowy Mountains’

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
221 x 101 cm. (87 x 39 3/4 in.)

Inscription:
Interpolated inscription signed ‘Wen Cheng-ming’ and dated to the year 1547

Colophon on mounting:
In 1841 by the Prince of Wan-ting remarking on ‘the spiritual qualities captured by this snow landscape of two hundred years ago.’

(See write up below.)