£5,000 - £10,000
China. 钱汝诚/Qiang Ru Chen/Qian Rucheng, 清錢汝誠臨宋四家書/Qing Qian Ru Cheng, Lin Song Si Jia Shu/Qian Rucheng Lin Song Sijia shu; [The compilations of the calligraphic writings of The Four Great Calligraphers of the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu & Cai Xiang], Qing dynasty, [16]ff of manuscript calligraphy, signed with two red seals of the scholar-calligrapher, further inscribed, the paper leaves with ink-ruled borders, now split into three parts, contemporary Chinese hardwood covers, presumably zitan, the upper-cover carved in relief with vertical lettering, the lower-cover plain, yellow and gold splash endpapers, the upper-cover with a late 19th c manuscript label, inscribed in English and indistinctly monogrammed, rather worn and inscribed: ' *** the Library of [crossed out] in the S*** [Summer Palace?/Yuanmingyuan?] of the Emperor **** 1860 by *** ', 13 x 9.3cm (closed)
The Shiqu baoji documents 24 works by Qian Rucheng, excluding this particular work. Qian's own as well as his collaborative works were stored across the imperial residences in Beijing, including within the different palaces and halls of the Summer Palace complex. In the opinion of Shichun Lei of Northumbria University, 'Based on the mount of the work, it is certainly an imperial work, but to tell its original location is difficult; if the attached old label tells [us] it was taken from the Summer Palace, I guess this calligraphy work once had been stored in the Summer Palace.'
Provenance: 1) The Imperial Collection, Beijing; 2) the O'Reilly family of Knock Abbey, Co. Louth, Ireland, and thence by descent to the present vendor.
A member of the aforementioned family, Lt.-Col. Charles Myles O'Reilly (1869-1942), is noted as having served with International Forces in China, 1900. It's probable that he collected the book during his overseas service. However, the manuscript label's monogram, though indistinct, does not seem to include the letters of the O'Reilly family's surname. Therefore, it's entirely plausible that between leaving the Imperial Collection and the Irish country house's library, the manuscript book passed through another's hands.
Mellors & Kirk would like to thank Professor Louise Tythacott of SOAS and Shichun Lei of the University of Oxford for their help and expertise in the cataloguing of this lot.
Apparently complete. The paper leaves with discernible signs of handling, with some soiling in places but never affecting the legibility of the text. The text now split into three portions, as catalogued, one leaf bearing a small late 19th/early 20th c English printed scrap, presumably from an ad hoc repair contemporary to the scrap. The MS label of the upper-cover worn and now indistinctly legible. The hardwood covers with some surface wear and light scratching, but no splits or repairs.
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Room and Absentee Bids:
28.80% inc VAT*
Online and Autobids:
30.6% inc VAT*
