.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The rectangular panel is exquisitely carved in high rounded relief with a landscape scene depicting a pair of cranes, one perched at the base of a pine tree with head raised, and the other standing on one leg with neck turned looking up at its mate. The gnarled pine tree is entwined with vines and extends above the cranes, before rocks with bamboo and a flowing stream. An imperial twenty-eight characters poem is inscribed in the middle right, followed by a signature ‘youhe’ and two square seal marks ‘qian’ and ‘long’ in scroll borders. The panel is enclosed in a plain zitan frame.
The inscribed poem, originally titled ‘A Song for a Carved Wood Screen’ was composed by the Qianlong Emperor, in the fifth calendar month of 1782, and is recorded in Yuzhi Shiji, Compilation of Imperial Poems (fig. 1), and published in Qing Gaozong Yuzhi Shiwen Quanji (7), vol. 4, juan 91:11, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1976, p.671. The signature youhe means ‘to the right of the cranes’.
The inscription may be translated as:
Cranes aplenty in the mountain villa, their wings unclipped,
At will, they fly away or they stay.
The ‘taixian’ (immortals in embryo) cherish this place, now preserved in carving;
The ‘muyan’ (wooden bird) somehow bears its resemblance.
Taixian, ’immortals in embryo’, on the third line, is a metaphor for cranes, which is referring to immortals that are womb-born instead of egg-born in the Daoist lore. Muyan, ‘wooden bird’, in the last phrase alludes to a parable about longevity by the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (476-221BC). On his way to a friend’s house for dinner, he saw some trees that were being cut down. One tree was spared from felling and he asked for the reason. He was told that the tree trunk was unusable as timber. Zhuangzi then arrived at his friend’s house as dinner was being prepared. One goose among two had been chosen to be butchered for the feast, his friend chose the one which was dumb. Zhuangzi was inspired by both situations to think about the essence to long life, the tree survived because of redundancy, while the goose was sacrificed due to incompetence. The phrase is an analogy for longevity, in which Zhuangzi had concluded that it lies between being useful and useless in life.
The present panel is almost certainly made to a specific Imperial commission. The cranes and pine tree in a mountain landscape depicted on the present panel portrays an image of longevity and the blessing songhe yannian, ‘may you enjoy a life as long as that of the pine and crane’. Adored and commissioned by the Qianlong emperor, the motif and composition of a pair of cranes beneath a pine tree on the present panel was also seen on various other imperial works of art. A painting by the famous Italian Jesuit who served the Qing imperial court, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1768), shows the same composition as the present panel with slightly different motions of the cranes (fig. 2), is in the collection of Shenyang Palace Museum, illustrated in Langshining Quanji 1688-1766, Complete Works of Giuseppe Castiglione 1688-1766, Tianjin, 2015. Vol.2, pp.91-93. Another hanging scroll on silk by the renowned Qing court painter Shen Quan (1682-1760) dated to 1759, also depicts the same motif with plums, in the collection of Beijing Palace Museum, was included in the exhibition China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, Catalogue, P.362, Pl.268 (fig. 3). Both paintings do not bare an imperial inscription. The imperial inscription on the present panel implied a double meaning of longevity, in addition to the auspicious motif.
Influenced by the characteristic perspective and realistic painting style of Qing court painters, the present panel is superbly carved in various relief to depict the vivid images of cranes and pines. The plumage on the cranes is exquisitely detailed, clearly defining the variation in neck, throat, back and flight feathers. The legs and the feet are sharply carved, holding on to the delicately outlined tree bark and needle-like branches of the pine tree. The decoration on this panel not only incorporates the elegance and complexity seen on Giuseppe Castiglione and Shen Quan’s scrolls, but also exemplifies impeccable level of craftmanship during Qianlong reign. The result is a hanging panel of remarkable beauty.
No other example of this design on carved panel with an imperial inscription appears to have been published. Compare with an embroidered hanging scroll of related composition dated to Qianlong period decorated with two pairs of cranes under a pine tree, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 52- Embroidered Pictures, Hong Kong, 2005, p.100, no. 56 (fig. 4).
The inscribed poem, originally titled ‘A Song for a Carved Wood Screen’ was composed by the Qianlong Emperor, in the fifth calendar month of 1782, and is recorded in Yuzhi Shiji, Compilation of Imperial Poems (fig. 1), and published in Qing Gaozong Yuzhi Shiwen Quanji (7), vol. 4, juan 91:11, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1976, p.671. The signature youhe means ‘to the right of the cranes’.
The inscription may be translated as:
Cranes aplenty in the mountain villa, their wings unclipped,
At will, they fly away or they stay.
The ‘taixian’ (immortals in embryo) cherish this place, now preserved in carving;
The ‘muyan’ (wooden bird) somehow bears its resemblance.
Taixian, ’immortals in embryo’, on the third line, is a metaphor for cranes, which is referring to immortals that are womb-born instead of egg-born in the Daoist lore. Muyan, ‘wooden bird’, in the last phrase alludes to a parable about longevity by the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (476-221BC). On his way to a friend’s house for dinner, he saw some trees that were being cut down. One tree was spared from felling and he asked for the reason. He was told that the tree trunk was unusable as timber. Zhuangzi then arrived at his friend’s house as dinner was being prepared. One goose among two had been chosen to be butchered for the feast, his friend chose the one which was dumb. Zhuangzi was inspired by both situations to think about the essence to long life, the tree survived because of redundancy, while the goose was sacrificed due to incompetence. The phrase is an analogy for longevity, in which Zhuangzi had concluded that it lies between being useful and useless in life.
The present panel is almost certainly made to a specific Imperial commission. The cranes and pine tree in a mountain landscape depicted on the present panel portrays an image of longevity and the blessing songhe yannian, ‘may you enjoy a life as long as that of the pine and crane’. Adored and commissioned by the Qianlong emperor, the motif and composition of a pair of cranes beneath a pine tree on the present panel was also seen on various other imperial works of art. A painting by the famous Italian Jesuit who served the Qing imperial court, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1768), shows the same composition as the present panel with slightly different motions of the cranes (fig. 2), is in the collection of Shenyang Palace Museum, illustrated in Langshining Quanji 1688-1766, Complete Works of Giuseppe Castiglione 1688-1766, Tianjin, 2015. Vol.2, pp.91-93. Another hanging scroll on silk by the renowned Qing court painter Shen Quan (1682-1760) dated to 1759, also depicts the same motif with plums, in the collection of Beijing Palace Museum, was included in the exhibition China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, Catalogue, P.362, Pl.268 (fig. 3). Both paintings do not bare an imperial inscription. The imperial inscription on the present panel implied a double meaning of longevity, in addition to the auspicious motif.
Influenced by the characteristic perspective and realistic painting style of Qing court painters, the present panel is superbly carved in various relief to depict the vivid images of cranes and pines. The plumage on the cranes is exquisitely detailed, clearly defining the variation in neck, throat, back and flight feathers. The legs and the feet are sharply carved, holding on to the delicately outlined tree bark and needle-like branches of the pine tree. The decoration on this panel not only incorporates the elegance and complexity seen on Giuseppe Castiglione and Shen Quan’s scrolls, but also exemplifies impeccable level of craftmanship during Qianlong reign. The result is a hanging panel of remarkable beauty.
No other example of this design on carved panel with an imperial inscription appears to have been published. Compare with an embroidered hanging scroll of related composition dated to Qianlong period decorated with two pairs of cranes under a pine tree, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 52- Embroidered Pictures, Hong Kong, 2005, p.100, no. 56 (fig. 4).