Painting, China, 20th century, of a pair of quail, symbolizing a double wish for peace, watercolor on paper, signed by Li Kuchan (1899-1983), known as one of the best students of Qi Baishi and renowned for his freehand paintings of flowers and birds, 26 1/2" x 13". Provenance: The dedication in these paintings refers to Zhang Guohe, born January 1922. A former Colonel of Chiang Kai-shek’s army, he attended the Japanese surrender in Hunan Zhejiang, in August 1945. After completing a law degree at the University of Chicago, he joined the United Nations in 1949, where he rose to the position of Chief of Examinations and Training in the Personnel Office. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Zhang would regularly return to visit China. While on one of his trips he met with Soong Qing Ling, the wife of Sun Yat Sen, on July 29th of 1979. Mr. Zhang passed away in early 2013 surrounded by his family in Boston, Massachusetts.