Tableaux

1740 · 60893 — Yangzhou China: Huang Shen é»„ç››ä¹‹å° ca. 1740-1770. Oblong 4to. 11.5 x 11 in. 9 leaves unnumbered. accordion-style leporello double-page leaves with 8 ink & hand-coloured paintings on paper sized 10 x 9.25 mounted w/ pale blue paper framed leaves each w/ gilt speckled decorative paper mounted facing. Original wooden boards hand-lettered label mounted on front cover scuffed some loss to wear rubbing splitting to covers horizontally but sound minor closed tear to inner front pastedowns occasional minor dustsoiling & thumbing still a VG- exemplar. An extraordinary album of intimately inked and coloured paintings on paper by the famed Qing Dynasty painter with each leaf inscribed by the artist with a couplet poem and with two seals. One shows a Chinese scholar and young boy or novice leaning into the wind with the couplet “Having endured the weather welcoming the colour of Autum; Together with ice and frost proud of one’s years.†Another with a fisherman seated on a mat his hat hung over the creel and holding the fishing rod ending with “preserve in brush and tongue and catch a giant turtle.†One shows an apparently drunk official sprawled on cushions surrounded by vases and ceramic ware entitled “How can Little Cao endure the tyranny of Princess Hu†One painting in the series draws from a couplet that appears often in ancient Chinese poetry anthologies and even a poetry manual depicted with well-dressed bearded official facing a stooped elder stating “Asked what is the Zen mind there is nothing to say; White clouds ceaselessly fly in the blue sky.â€The seventh painting in the album illustrates two finely dressed individuals with one bearing a short sword strapped to his back and the other holding a speckled deer sporting a riding blanket and the couplet version: 霜冷玄猿ä¾è—¥ç¶ which does appear in such early anthologies as A New Collection of Entertainment Collections 應酬彙é¸æ–°é›† 尺牘 帖å¼. The final painting in the album appears to be another version of Huang Shen’s scroll painting in the Taipei Palace Museum entitled “Bo Le judges horses†清黃慎畫伯樂相馬圖軸. The painting depicts a similarly dressed Chinese hostler with different headgear with emphasis on the pair of horses and alternate hat between the two. The version in this album allowing more horizontal space features an additional horse with much finer definition and no large overhanging tree. The couplet in both reads “Two fine steeds already led by master equestrian Wang Liang; They shall bee Bo Le’s approval at a glance. Huang Shen’s 1687-1772 painting style paralleled his calligraphy often with a similar fluidity and organic flow to the figures and objects. Born originally in Ninghua Fujian Province he began his training under Shangguan Zhou and after moving to Yangzhou in 1724 to make his living as a painter he developed a style matching the tastes of his clients. He eventually became known as a figure painter and as one of the Eight Eccentrics from Yangzhou local artists known for their unorthodox painting style. Although his individual scrolls appear in the market on a consistent basis his albums such as this one are quite scarce. Huang Shen, é»„ç››ä¹‹å° hardcover