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Abe, Stanley: AN ACCOUNT OF TWO VOYAGES - BACKHOFF AND WAGENER Acharya, Sanjay: Adams, Edward B: Alexander, William & Mason, George: Allen, H. M. ed: Andrews, F. H: ANNINGHE LIUYU DA SHI MU Yuhas, Louise ed: Asahi Shimbun ed: Asian Art Museum: THE ASIATIC JOURNAL AND MONTHLY MISCELLANY VOL II: THIRD SERIES |
ZZ4PA1 Ren Bonian (Ren Yi): REN BONIAN: BO GU: A SET OF FOUR HANGING SCROLLS OF ANCIENT CHINESE BRONZES, RUBBINGS OF BRONZE INSCRIPTIONS AND THE FLOWERS OF THE FOUR SEASONS. (Ren Bonian: Bounty from Antiquity). 任伯年 (任頤) 博古 (愙斋 吳大澂 全形拓 金石畫 愙斋集古圖). Shanghai, 1882. Four vertical colour and b/w uniform images combining painting, printing and possible rubbing techniques. Image size of each: 139x38 cm. 4 vols. 139x38 cm. Paper. Scroll mounted. GBP 30,000.00 A set of four fascinating images on hanging scrolls with printing, original painting, possible original rubbing and hand colouring. All are identically dated by cyclical date on each image's calligraphic inscription to 1882. Each image comprises one of the four seasons, the season identified by the flowers depicted. Each scroll has a title slip in Chinese: 'Ren Bonian: Bo Gu' - Ren Bonian: Bounty from Antiquity. The bronzes are shown as black-and-white three-dimensional composite rubbings in a style known as Quanxing Ta (Rubbings of Entire Shapes) and also known as Jin Shi Hua (Paintings of Metal and Stone) a scholarly form of painting that originated in, and developed as, the 19th century progressed. Reproductions of rubbings of inscriptions on bronzes appear on all four images and a bronze bell also bears an inscription. The flowers appear as printing with hand-colouring plus, it appears, original painting of flowers in some areas. The rubbings of the bronze inscriptions appear to be printed but this is rather hard to determine. All four images have the cyclical date Renwu (1882) and all four have the signature in varying format of Ren Bonian or Ren Yi. This set was presumably produced in the studio of the famous late 19th century Chinese painter, Ren Bonian (Ren Yi), in Shanghai. One painting intriguingly bears the two characters, Kezhai, - that of the collection of the connoisseur and collector, Wu Dacheng (1835-1903). Research has shown that at least some of the bronzes and rubbings of their inscriptions in our four images closely relate to pieces in the Kezhai collection as depicted in the two handscroll paintings 'Kezhai Ji Gu Tu'. See 'Mirroring the Past pp. 194 and 212-213 and 'Visible Traces' pp. 111-112. Also 'Advancing with the Times' pp. 72-77. One of the handscrolls states on a vertical title slip that it was painted by Ren Fuchang (Ren Xun) who was the uncle of Ren Bonian. So both Ren Bonian and Ren Xun were associated with and, it would appear, were commissioned to do work for Wu Dacheng. The title slip of the Kezhai Ji Gu Tu scrolls is cyclically dated 1892 and Wu Hufan, painter and grandson of Wu Dacheng, has stated that the portrait on the handscroll of Wu Dacheng seated in front of a large screen painted with landscapes was done in 1892 (Mirroring the Past p. 195). Given that the Kezhai Ji Gu Tu handscrolls were done in 1882 and our four images are dated 1882, it is reasonable to assume that this set of four comprises an early depiction and appreciation of bronzes in the Kezhai collection, done in the then-popular style of quanxing ta and jinshi hua. Wu Dacheng is known to have commissioned similar such vertical format works - for example see Mirroring the Past p. 194. See also the below link to the exhibition at the Suzhou Museum in 2017 on the collections of the Wu Family https://www.szmuseum.com/mjcj/kz.html Two of the ancient bronzes there exhibited are near identical to two bronzes depicted on our scrolls namely the bronze bell on the Summer scroll and the gui food container on the Autumn scroll. The techniques utilized in the production of these images are numerous and complex - printing, possible original or printed rubbing, original painting, and hand-colouring within the borders of printed areas. Given that this set of four images involves woodblock printing, one wonders whether other such sets were produced but we have never seem anything similar and thus view this set as extremely rare, if not unique. PROVENANCE: Bought in Japan in the 1970s. In a Dutch collection thereafter until 3 years ago when sold. Then recently again resold. CONDITION: The four remounted, probably in China (the quality of the remounting is not what one would expect if done in Japan) prior to them going to Japan. The images are slightly trimmed at some of the edges. One print (Autumn) has distinct waterstaining at the bottom of the image. Minor waterstaining to the bottom of the other three images. Two small oval losses of paper to one image (Spring) on the image of the rock. Other than that, there is the usual horizontal creasing and the occasional mark and soiling. Generally in very good condition and present very well. Images available on request. BIBLIOGRAPHY Wang: Mirroring the Past Hu: Visible Traces Shanghai Museum: Advancing with the Times: The Technique of Rubbing Liaonong Provincial Museum: Ren Bonian Exhibition Bogu painting: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/K4075sSQNTte8mkBa4HC3Q Subjects: Painting Rubbings Item 534 in List 214. URL for this record: hanshan.com/?r/ZZ4PA1.HTM Record produced by Hanshan Tang Books, www.hanshan.com. |