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I found these 2 calligraphy scrolls in Los Angeles and would like to identify whether they are Japanese, Chinese, or otherwise. If somebody could help with this and offer some information as to their purpose and meaning that would be helpful and greatly appreciated. The larger of the two frames measures approx. 60 inches across.

I may be able to help with the top scroll in the first photo, which I believe is Chinese and reads across from left to right in the bold characters as 芽蘭滿宝馨 (Ya Lan Man Bao Xin). "Budding orchids filled with treasured fragrance". The two-line inscription on the left side leads off in the first line with a cyclical date of Gengzi (庚子), but I can't quite fathom the rest of that stack or the last one, except the final two characters, which look like 學風 (xue feng), the "academic atmosphere" and "school traditions".

Best regards,

Bill H.

Both are Chinese.

I like the first one (top) a bit more than the second one (bottom).

First:

Large characters from right to left are:

芳蘭滿室馨
The fragrance of orchid completely filled up the room

Small characters:

First column at left: (top to bottom)
庚子孟春
庚子 more than likely 1960;
孟春 January (first month of Spring)

Second column at far left: (top to bottom)
宮鼎鄭學鳳
宮鼎 - probably the name of a place, possibly in Taiwan but not 100% sure, cannot find anything on it;
鄭學鳳 - Zheng Xue Feng (Zheng is the family name)
which is the name of the calligrapher
Interestingly, in modern time, 鳳 (phoenix) was often used for the name of a girl; however, as in 鳳凰 Feng Huang(compound noun for phoenix), 鳳 Feng is actually a male phoenix while 凰 Huang is a female phoenix, therefore this person can either be a male or female.

Two chop marks below:
Top: 鄭學鳳印 - the seal of Zheng Xue Fung
Bottom: 宮鼎 - Gongding possible the name of a place

Scroll 2 translation (to follow)

Super

Super,

You have been a great help to me in the past in translating and identifying Chinese artwork I own.

I recently had posted on the forum (Twice) and have not received any replies. I was wondering is you can take a look at my post and possible help me. Any help in translating, artist information and or any additional whelp would be greatly appreciated.

Here is the link: http://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php?method=detailAll&Id=95278&PHPSESSID=61lhm4t1uedqi3926onidh4ri6



Thank you for your time in this matter.

Joe

It would be interesting to see if any other translators in this forum would try to translate the second scroll because at first I was totally clueless.

Hint: Psalm 23:5

thank you for your translations on these scrolls. Interesting to know they are possibly of Taiwan origin. Were these purely ornamental, and do they have any appreciable value?

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