A HANDSCROLL PAINTING OF FLOWERS BY YUN SHOUPING (1633-90) QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD, DATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH 1688

colour and ink on silk, delicately painted in various shades with various flowers of the four seasons borne on leafy stems, including pear and peach blossoms, peony, poppy, mallow, chrysanthemum, narcissus and prunus, the thin twigs meandering elegantly across the scroll through the dense clusters of foliage, accompanied with a poem and signed wuchen chun Yunxi yu Shouping ni Beisong Xu Congsi fa (‘Yunxi yu Shouping in the wuchen year in the style of Xu Congsi from the Northern Song’, corresponding to 1688), together with three seals of the artist reading Nantian xiao yin (‘small seal of Nantian’), Yun Zhengshu and Shouping, the scroll with five additional seals of connoisseurs and collectors

Collection of Yunli (1697-1738), Prince of the First Rank (seals).
Collection of Fang Junyi (1815-1889, seals).

Hosokawa Morisada Collection ten I – Kougana bunjinno sekai – Minshinno kaiga to shoseki, bunbougu [Morisada Hosokawa Collection exhibition I – The World of a refined writer – Paintings, calligraphy and stationery in Ming and Qing Dynasty], Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, Kumamoto, 1992, cat. no. 12.

The brocade wrapper has been rubbed and faded, with loss to the title. Jade fastener is in good condition. Consolidation to the reverse of the painting when remounted, strengthened with additional thin strips of paper. There are humidity stains, and minor rubbing to the surface throughout, with loss to the silk and detail of the painting. As visible in the catalogue photo, there are vertical crease lines, several of which are more acute cracks. Other minor tears and scratches. Overall, good condition.edges
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This scroll, executed in light colours in a realistic style, depicts pear flower, peach blossom, tree peony, red poppy, herbaceous peony, mallow, banana flower, chrysanthemum, narcissus and prunus – a total of ten different flowers. As we pass through the scroll, we see spring depart and summer arrive; autumn ebb away and winter roll in. With a change in seasons comes a change in fragrance. We begin with the quiet elegance of white pear blossoms; then we move on to peonies of various colours; later come autumnal chrysanthemums in brilliant reds, whites, and purples; next are narcissuses with their extraordinary subtle fragrance; and finally we end up with prunus painted in ink, pure and proud. Throughout the scroll, the artist mainly uses mogu ('boneless', colour paintings devoid of outlines) to depict delicate petals and tender leaves, occasionally using deep-coloured lines to outline them. Only for the narcissus and prunus flowers does he use ink to provide more definition. This scroll – with its style and realism, its detail and precision, its elegance – is similar to the peony album painted by Yun Shouping in 1688, preserved in the National Palace Museum in Taipei; see Gugong shuhua tulu / Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Painting in the National Palace Museum, vol. 24, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, pp. 86-89.

Yun Shouping (1633-90) – originally named Ge, zi Shouping, and called Nantian – was a famous painter of the early Qing dynasty. He ranks with Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Wang Hui, Wang Yuanqi and Wu Li as one of the six masters of the early Qing. At first he devoted himself to landscapes, winning praise for his skill and vigor. Later he painted more flower and plant compositions, focusing on making his paintings come to life. Among his compositions are realistic works, mogu, ink paintings, and free sketches. Early in his career he aimed at regular compositions, and later gradually developed a more graceful and vigorous style, and toward the end of his career produced more works notable for their lustrous, gorgeous quality. His style gave rise to the Yun school of painting. The ink paintings he produced were elegant yet simple, and he was a master at using colour to produce scenes of flowers vying with their splendor. Yun Shouping imitated the mogu flowers painting style of the Northern Song painter Xu Chongsi. In fact, he did better than imitate; he surpassed the master. In the mogu flowers style, the painter foregoes drawing outlines. Instead, throughout the painting he washes colours with differing levels of thickness to create flowers that are light and soft, delicate and pleasing. Examples of Yun Shouping’s mogu paintings in light colours can be seen in a painting album of flowers held by the Palace Museum in Beijing and published in China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005-6, cat. no. 251. In his paintings Xu Chongsi, perhaps because of tastes at the Northern Song Painting Academy, applied colours thickly, making it difficult to attain simple elegance. Yun Shouping, in contrast, used deep and light colours and applied them thickly or lightly as appropriate. As a result he attained an uncommon delicate beauty in his paintings. Late in his career he used diluted ink instead of colour to achieve a result that was simple yet elegant.

According to the collectors’ seals on the painting, this scroll was at times owned by Yunli and by Fang Junyi. Yunli, Prince Guo of the First Rank (1697-1738), was the seventeenth son of the Kangxi Emperor. During his career he managed the Court of Colonial Affairs, the Three Storehouses of the Ministry of Revenue, and administrative affairs in the Ministry of Revenue. Early in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-96), he was promoted to Grand Minister. Earlier, during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722-35), he moved to Zideyuan, a residence bestowed upon him by the Emperor. At Zideyuan there were five signboards inscribed by the Emperor, including Chunhetang (‘Hall of Spring Harmony’) and Jingguanlou (‘Quiet View Tower’). Prince Yunli was skilled at painting, exacting in calligraphy, and fond of poetry. Among his works were Chunhetang ji [Hall of Spring Harmony Writings] and Jingyuanzhai shiji [Poetry from the Calm and Distant Study]. Fang Junyi (1815-89), zi Zizhen and called Mengyuan, became a presented scholar in 1844. The highest office he attained was Supervisor of Transport at Guangdong and Guangxi, and again at Huaidong and Huaixi. Later he accepted an appointment as Sichuan Surveillance Commissioner. A knowledgeable connoisseur and astute collector, he accumulated a vast collection of valuable paintings and works of calligraphy, for which he became quite well known. Among his extant works are Mengyuan shuhua lu [Catalogue of Calligraphy Paintings in the Dream Garden Collection], Erzhixuan shiwenji [Poetry and Prose from the Erzhi Study], and Renzhai shiwenji [Poetry and Prose from the Perseverance Study].