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With apologies for my previous post (have to quit doing this at the end of a long day), I am reposting my inquiry concerning a woodblock print with no discernible artist signature.

While helping a friend clear out some things from his parents' house, I found this print. It was originally in a wooden frame, no glass, no matting, and obvious damage from moisture. Anyway, it's about 26 by 18, all the figures seeming very well-done, no artist signature or any other information with it. I cannot check the back of the print, as it has been attached to a heavy multi-layer cardboard artboard and trying to remove it would result in serious damage. Intriguingly, it appears there either is or was something else attached to the back, as there is a smaller rectangle, about 14x17, of what appears to be much older paper taped down on the rear.

I have done Google image searches, with no success. One individual on another forum opined that it was a 19th century woodblock print, but offered no information beyond that.

The frame, which was getting pretty disreputable, looked like it probably came from the 60s or thereabouts. Would appreciate any thoughts or opinions about the artist, age and theme of the print. My thanks in advance.

no clear answer from me on this one, it's plausibly a print but higher-quality/better detailed and colored than most Chinese woodblock prints I am aware of. More likely perhaps a mass-produced illustration. Probably not a painting. Can't tell from the photo if the breaks in the lines of the scholars' garments are the product of pixelation in your photograph or some error in the production process of the print itself.

The scene appears a fairly generic gathering of scholars, the lamps and the 8-panel screen seem late Qing in style. Other pictures in this genre include:

http://www.paintingschinese.com/images/china-resources/classic-paintings/large/1-6-8.jpg

http://fpif.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/six-refined-scholars-chinese-painting.jpg

The water damage is pretty bad though, the only way to restore if it's a painting or original print would be to remove the image and soak it in water for quite a while before remounting it on a new backing.

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