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Hello everybody,

can somebody please translate the inscription and who the artist/seal of this plaque might be. Also who the depicted person could be, from chinese mythology, e.g. one of the immortals?

Should this be authentic republic? I was offerd this interesting piece but am not sure wether it is worth it´s high price.
It measures ca. 37 x 30cm (ca 15,5 x 12 inch, frame included).

Any hints are welcomed!

Hope this picture ist more detailed...

This plaque looks like it probably is by an imitator of the well known and widely copied Republic Period porcelain painter Wang Qi (1884-1937), the leader of the group of Jingdezhen artists called the "Eight Friends of Zhushan". The inscription has a cyclical date of Wuchen (1928), but the red seal doesn't look like others my gurus have held up to me as authentic marks of Wang. Another trusted source is Sotheby's, whose auction link for a vase by Wang is included below for comparison of its inscription and seals to your plaque. Perhaps others can translate the rest of the inscription on this piece to see if it contains relevant information.

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :Sothebys Buffalo Boy Vase

Translation of the rest,
Title,
達摩尊者　-　The Honored Bodhidharma
戊辰春　Year of Earth -Dragon (1928) Spring
陶迷道人　-　Taoist priest bewitched with porcelain -Pseudonym
Seal,
琦　 - Qi

Name of artist； Wang Qi 王琦
whose pseudonym was the "Taoist priest bewitched with porcelain"
For details pls. refer Bill`s above posting.

With regards,
I.Nagy

Thanks for the information, dear Bill,
so I was lucky not to buy it. It was sold to somebody else anyway, before I got an answer ...but nevertheless, thanks for your insight.
I also stumbbeld over the style of the painter Wang Qi, and the unmatching seal, but thought it could probably be created by another painter of republic period.
Probably it was as you suggested, relativly new ware...

Greetings, Elke

Recently, I'd run across an online sketch regarding Wang Qi, which piece is provided below in Chinese with my rough translation. The last line mentions the artist's use of his two-character seal of Wang Qi (王琦). The only stand-alone seal of this type I've seen on an authenticated work of Wang's is shown in the photo below. The seal on your painting in fact does say "Wang Qi", using a small red-on-white "Qi" character overlying a larger "Wang" character in white-on-red format. Such a stylized arrangement is found in the middle of Wang's often used four-character seal of "Xi Chang Wang Qi" (西昌王奇), but as shown in the second image below, all characters are rendered in white-on-red.

王琦（1884-1937），民国时期景德镇绘瓷名家，珠山八友之首。号碧野，别号陶谜道人，斋名陶陶斋，江西新建人。早期以没骨法画佛像，后以钱慧安仕女画为蓝本绘工笔粉彩，中年后学黄慎画风，改画写意人物，用笔挥洒奔放，冠绝一时。其瓷绘作品曾在1015年巴拿马万国博览会上获一等奖。早期作品多不书款，仅画图章，中年后作品均有较长的草书题记。传世品甚多。常用印有 ”王琦” ,”啕迷” ,”洗心斋”,”碧山” “碧珍”,“王琦画印”等


Wang Qi (1884-1937), the Republic of China period, Jingdezhen porcelain painting masters, first among the Eight Friends of Zhushan. Alias, ‘Jade green wilderness’ (碧野 – Bi ye); other alias, the ‘Mysterious Daoist devotee in the pot’ (陶謎道人 – Tao mi dao ren); Studio name, Studio (陶陶齋 – Taotao Zhai). Native of Xinjian county in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Early on, lacking strength of brush strokes, he painted Buddha images. After the Empress dowager made the beautiful paintings of court ladies by Qian Huian (1833-1911) a blueprint for the famille rose palette, and after scholar Huang Shen’s painting style, he quickly changed painting techniques to that of freehand, relaxed figures, done with unrestrained brushstrokes. Wang’s porcelain paintings won first prize at the 1915 Panama World Exposition. Marks on these early works were not written but stamped. In his middle years, works are prefaced with longer cursive inscriptions. Frequently used seals include: ‘Wang Qi’ (王琦), ‘Wailing in bewilderment’ (Tao mi – 啕迷), ‘Fasting to cleanse the heart’ (洗心
齋), (碧珍 – Bi Zhen) Precious green jade, ‘Seal of a painting by Wang Qi’ (王琦画印 – Wang Qi hua yin), etc.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank u very much, dear Bill. You are a hero of deep&fundamental research ;-)), and I appreciate that very much.

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