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Dear Forum, I would like to ask for help again. This time I have found a chinese painting on silk. I think it was a scroll, but it has been framed. As I do not know anything about chinese paintings, I would be glad to hear how old it is and, if possible, what the seal and the inscription mean. Does the painting depict some special occasion, or is it just women with their children playing? Thanks a lot for any information! Mat

P.S: Sorry for the bad quality of the photos, I tried but did not get better results.

Hi Mat, as Dan says, this painting is signed as being by Chen Zhuo. Chen Zhuo was a Qing era painter who is recorded as having attended a party at a famous art collector's house in 1669. therefore the cyclical date inscribed above the painter's name on this painting would date the picture to 1667. However, I would not put much stock in this until you find someone who is an expert in Chinese paintings to look at this work more carefully. It's quite likely that the signature and date could have been added some years after the work was painted by an anonymous professional painter in order to increase its market value/resale price. The picture is of decent quality, 19th century or before, but I am not familiar enough with these genre paintings to date it accurately. Meanwhile you may wish to look through Pictures for Use and Pleasure by James Cahill, which discusses this sort of painting at length. this scene is not a special occasion I think, just boys at play. its subject matter does contain some rebuses, however, for example the Chinese character for female and the Chines character for children form the Chinese word for "good" when they are put together. etc. so this is a decent piece with a bit of damage, but its age and authorship are still to be determined.

Thank you, rat, for giving me all this interesting information! I ordered the book and I am curious to learn more about this kind of paintings! Mat

I think it is interesting art work.the artist name is Chen Zhuo, the seal is also mean the name.

Thank you, Dan, for giving me the information about the artist's name! Mat

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