王琦 丙寅年作(1926) 粉彩紅樓夢人物故事瓷板畫四屏

Chinese. Each panel portraying the figures and scenes from the famous Chinese classical novel 'the Dream of Red Chamber', all delicately painted in famille rose enamels, with an inscription in regular script tributed to Wei Lu Zhuren, dated to the autumn of 1926, signed Wang Qi and with two seals reading 'Tao Le' and 'Tao Mi', and two apocryphal seal marks 'Qianlong Chenhan' and 'Weijing Weiyi', and ‘San' and 'Qian' on two other panels, all enclosed within hardwood frames. Republic period, Circa 1926.

Height: 24 in (61.0 cm) Width: 6 1/2 in (16.5 cm)

Provenance: From the collection of Mr.and Mrs. Jacobs, Arizona, acquired by the family prior to 1970s in New York City

Wang Qi is the founding member of the 'Zhushan Bayou', and is considered one of the most influential potter in modern Chinese porcelain history. His styles are usually very expressive, with exaggerate figures and cursive calligraphy. But in this present example, which was created in 1926, it shows a rather classical styles with that can be found in mid-Qing dynasty imperial porcelains. It depicts the stories from the famous Chinese novel 'Dream from Red Chamber', the figures, rocks, and pavilions are all finely painted and brilliantly colored. We believe this is an early work from Wang Qi that imitates the Qianlong period porcelains styles, which can be further demonstrated with apocryphal seals dated to Qianlong period.

王琦是“珠山八友”的創始人，被認為是中國現代瓷器史上最有影響力的陶藝家之一。他的風格通常很有表現力，有誇張的人物和草書。但在這件創作於1926年的例子中，它表現出一種相當古典的風格，可以在清代中期的皇家瓷器中找到。它描繪了中國著名小說《紅樓夢》中的故事，人物、岩石和亭台樓閣都畫得很精美，色彩鮮豔, 并且在人物的刻畫上,有王琦早年學習錢慧安仕女畫的影子。我們認為這是王琦早期的一件罕見仿乾隆瓷器風格的作品，瓷板下方的仿乾隆印章可進一步證明這一點。

王琦為“珠山八友”之首（1884-1937), 其初以捏面人為生，後向鄧碧珊學畫瓷板肖像。先以錢慧安仕女畫為藍本，後改學“揚州八怪”之一的黃慎，晚年的作品開始擺脫錢慧安和黃慎的影子，在繼承中有了自己的特徵，以寫意人物畫見長。