Lot 45

Scattered light discolouration throughout, together with isolated areas of heavier discolouration in places; vertical creases in three places; overall stable condition; some chipping and creases to the edges and ends of the mount; areas of yellowing to the reverse of the mount, including a more prominent darkened area to the centre of one outer quadrant.


The opinions expressed in the condition reports are a guide only and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Prospective buyers are encouraged to inspect articles for sale at our pre-sale viewing where Leonard Joel staff are available for advice.
Leonard Joel makes no guarantee of the originality of mechanical or applied components. Absence of reference to such modifications does not imply that a lot is free from modifications.

Collection of Zheng Ziyu (1916-2008), gift of Yu Youren.
Sotheby's, Fine Chinese Paintings, 24 October 2005, Hong Kong. Lot 962
Sotheby's, Fine Chinese Paintings, 6 October 2007, Hong Kong. Lot 167
An important private collection, Melbourne

Jiang Kui (1155-1221) was a poet, poetry theorist, music and lyric composer, and calligrapher of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). He was known for his originality, being fairly uninfluenced by both his contemporaries, and earlier schools. Zhang Yan, another 13th Century poet, wrote that Jiang's poems are like "clouds that leave or stay without a trace"*, highlighting the ethereal and unpredictable nature of his poetry. *Yuan, Xingpei (2017). An Outline of Chinese Literature II. Routledge.

Zheng Ziyu (1916-2008) was a scholar in rhetoric and poetry, a well known collector of Chinese calligraqphy, and a close personal friend of Yu Youren. He was also a professor who taught in Waseda University (Tokyo), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Fudan University (Shanghai), and Daito Bunka University (Tokyo).