Asian Art I - 22nd May 2013
Lot 202
A large and rare pair of dated Chinese tiehua or iron pictures early 18th century
Estimate £5,000 - £8,000 | Hammer £15000
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Description
A large and rare pair of dated Chinese tiehua or iron pictures early 18th century, one depicting two small boats before distant mountains and with a single figure on a bridge between tree-lined islands, the other with a fisherman beneath trees, a small boat and further mountainous scenes, the former inscribed in ink qiu jiang yue du (autumn river beneath the moon), the latter feng yu gui zhou (the wind brings the boats back), and both with a three-column inscription including the artist Tang Peng and the date Kangxi yi you, which corresponds to 1705, each in a hardwood frame, 82cm x 113cm. (2)
Provenance: a private American collection, purchased from the descendants of John Reilly Jr., who acquired them in China c.1925-30.
Exhibited: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 1941, 'Chinese Pictures in Iron - XVIII and XIX Centuries'.
Cf. C. Li, J.C.Y. Watt, The Chinese Scholar's Studio: Artistic Life in the late Ming Period, an Exhibition From the Shanghai Museum; Jenyns and Watson, Chinese Art: The Minor Arts; B March, "Iron Pictures: A Chinese Craft," in Chinese Economic Monthly , vol. iii.; B March, "Iron In Art" in The Romance of Chinese Art; and "Iron in Art" in The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th Edition. See also The Complete Collection of Treasures of The Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties (II), p.204, no.177.
John Reilly, Jr., was an American engineer with a passion for coin collecting that led him to amass the largest collection of Far Eastern coins in the world. After training as an engineer in Princeton (New Jersey), Reilly became an active member of the American Numismatic Society, acting as council member, treasurer and later, governor. In 1925, Reilly left his position at the Society and moved to China with his wife Alice, where it is possible he acquired the iron pictures. John Reilly, Jr. is still considered as one of the most influential members of the American Numismatic Society, which now owns and displays his large collection of coins.
十八世紀初 鐵花山水人物掛屏 一對
題識：秋江月渡，風雨歸舟
歲在康熙己酉清和月以應，蕪湖湯鵬製。
鈐印：（鈐印漫渙不清）
來源:1920-30年代由約翰·瑞利購自中國，之後由美國私人收藏
展覽：1941年十月於美國大都會博物館展出