A 'GUQIN MINGLU' HANDSCROLL BY CHEN BANGYAN (1678-1752) QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

miniature handscroll, ink on gold-flecked pink silk with a silk brocade wrapper, signed Chen Bangyan, listed with 21 Guqin's, the frontispiece entitled Guqin minglu ('A Record of Famous Guqin's'), with seven seals including one seal of the Jiaqing Emperor, Cheng guan zhai, one reading Jing fu ge (Hall of Great Happiness in the Summer Palace), one of Empress Dowager Cixi, Ya dao qing xin, as well as Ji xia jian shang zhi xi, Jiangu and Wu fu wu dai tang bao

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 2806.

The 21 famous guqin's listed on the miniature handscroll are Chun lei, Bing qing, Yu zhen huang gu qiu xiao, Qiong xiang, Qiu lai, Huaigu, Nan xun, Daya song xue, Fu qing, Ben lei, Cungu, Han yu, Bai na,Xiang quan, Wu yu, Guan gu yun qing, Xi fan qing jue, Wan huo song, Wu zhong shan, Yu jian ming quan, and Qie tuo luo qin.

Chen Bangyan (1678-1752), zi Shinan, hao Paolu, called himself Chunhui laoren in his later years. He served under the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. His elegant calligraphy, especially xiao kai (small regular script), is reminiscent of the Ming Dynasty master Dong Qichang's style. After passing the civil service examination in 1703, Chen served in the Qing court and was made the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Rites. In 1726 Chen was found guilty and dismissed for his mistakes in the Qian Mingshi scandal. In 1744, he returned to his official position.