A CHINESE SCROLL PAINTING ON PAPER BY WAN SHOU QI (1603-1652)

17TH CENTURY

Depicting an ancient luohan sitting beside a pile of books beneath a tree before a waterfall, signed Wan Shou Qi xia hua, and inscribed by Wu Yun Zhi praising the artistry of the painter and with two seals. A further four collectors' and one artist's seal, 96cm x 39.5cm.

Wan Shou Qi was a poet and calligrapher, seal-carver and painter from a family of high officials, who passed his juren degree in 1630 and published his first collection of poems three years later. When the Manchus pushed south of the Yangzi River, he joined several friends and their small forces in a vain effort to stop the invaders. Most of his friends were killed and Wan himself was captured, but after nearly two years imprisonment his release was secured and he returned to Huaian.

In 1646 Wan became a monk, tonsuring himself and wearing a priest's robe, indicating his retirement from active life. During his two years of residence in Suzhou his house had been burned and his family's possessions plundered by troops and bandits. Upon his return to Huaian he supported himself and his family by the sale of his paintings and specimens of his calligraphy and at the same time he continued to write poetry.