Fine Chinese Paintings & Works of Art - 23rd November 2021

Lot 2004

JIANG TINGXI (1669-1732)

Estimate £20,000 - £30,000 | Hammer £20000

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Description

JIANG TINGXI (1669-1732)

SQUIRRELS AND GOLDFISH

A fine Chinese scroll painting, ink and colour on paper, colophon signed Yu Dawei (1897-1993) with one seal and dated 1943, inscribed and dated May in bingwu year (1666), with one artist's seal reads Jiang Tingxi yin, and one collector's seal of Zhang Tingji, which reads shu wei guo mu, 97cm x 41.5cm, 124cm including the colophon.

Provenance: Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, CMG, MC, KStJ, PC, 1883-1950, and thence by descent.

The colophon explains that the painting was a belated birthday gift given on the 5th May 1943 by Yu Dawei to Field Marshal Wavell in honour of his 59th birthday. As Yu was unable to meet with Field Marshal Wavell, who was in India at the time, the painting was given to him on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Yu Dawei (1897-1993) served as the Minister of Transport and National Defence and Lieutenant General of the Republic of China Army. He studied philosophy and mathematics at both Harvard and Berlin University. Yu later received a formal education in ballistics and artillery and played a crucial role in the modernization and reformation of the national military defence of the Republic of China.