ATTRIBUTED TO GU JIANLONG (1606-AFTER 1687)
LARGE INK PAINTING OF THE GOD OF LONGEVITY, SHOULAO AND BOY, QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
£2,142
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 4 November 2022 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清 顧見龍款 《長壽仙芝》紙本設色 鏡框
款識：時己未之秋/仿唐子畏筆/意寫於深柳讀書草堂/雲臣顧見龍製
鈐印：顧見龍印、雲臣
ink and colour on paper, framed, titled 'Changshou Xianzhi' (The Magical Fungus of Longevity) on central upper left, further inscribed stating painted in the year to Ji Wei in Autumn, correspondent to 1679 , in the manner of Tang Ziwei (also known as Tang Yin, 1470-1523), painted in the Studying Straw Hall of Deep Willow, signed 'Yun Chen Gu Jian Long, applied two red seals 'Gu Jian Long Yin' and 'Yun Chen'
Dimensions
216cm x 107cm
Provenance
Provenance: From the collection of the late James Kedzie Penfield (1908-2004), who joined the American Diplomatic Corps to China in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1954, Penfield became United States' High Commissioner for Austria with the mission to re-establish an independent, neutral and democratic Austria. In 1961, he was appointed American Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iceland; thence by direct family descent.
James was born in NYC in 1908. His mother was one of the first women to drive a car by herself all the way across the United States within a week. James must have inherited her pioneering spirit, because as a young Stanford graduate, he joined the small hand-picked team who travelled to China to work for the American Diplomatic Corps in the 1930s and 1940s. Although his diplomatic career later took him to posts all around the world, his daughter remembers him speaking fondly of "the best years of his life in Peking, Canton and Chunking". Whilst in China, James established friendships with prominent local artists, he was gifted a painting, as a token of farewell, by and from Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), one of the most celebrated 20th-century Chinese artists. The painting, which is dated 1944, subsequently sold in this saleroom, 08 November 2017, lot 87.
Footnote
Note: There is little known about the painter Gu Jianlong, except that he served as a court artist in the 1660s-70s. He was born in Suzhou Taichang, and painted portraits of Qing emperors and imperial family members. His works are in the collection of The British Museum, see a portrait of Guanyin, museum numbers 1910,0212,0.486. Other extensive works are in The Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum of Art, see a portrait of Ma Shiqi (1650–1714), illustrated in Wai-Kam Ho, et al., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and The Cleveland Museum of Art. (The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, c1980), 347-348, no. 255. For similar theme to this lot, compare with a smaller ink and colour on silk scroll painting, attributed to Gu Jianlong, depicting related subject matter 'Shoulao on White Deer', was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2021, lot 852; Another slightly smaller ink and colour on silk, with the signature of Gu Jianlong, was sold at Christie's New York, 19 Mar 2021, lot 852.