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Bought this painting from a local consignment shop. Thought it might be a Japanese Sumi-e painting, but I now think it is Chinese.

I was able to identify the first 2 characters in the writing as the date, Bing Shen (丙申), which would place the date of creation at 1956 or 1896, I don't believe it would be any earlier.

I don't know any of the other characters or the artist, so any help would be appreciated.

This is a fairly large painting, about 22" wide x 36" tall.

I've never seen this type of fibrous paper used before, but perhaps that is due to my lack of experience.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

If what I gather from looking online is correct, this apparently is a print on mulberry paper of a painting done in 1956 by Ikua Chou (1971-2003) showing the Eight Immortals, sleeping off their wine during what may be the Moon Festival. At the bottom of the first (right-hand) stack, the inscription mentions another Chinese artist named Wang Yiting. See the link for a discussion of the print in an eBay forum.

I can't make out a few of the cursive characters, but basically the first line of the inscription dates the picture to the early autumn of the bingshen year and mentions Wang Yiting. The second stack describes he scene as showing the drunken Eight Immortals before I run out of steam on the last two characters. I believe the red seal contains the surname Zhou (周).

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :Eight Immortals Painting

Thanks, Bill H.

I struggled over this piece, trying to figure out if it was printed or painted. Behind the glass, it was hard to tell. The ink seems to rest on the surface in a rather textured fashion, but I had attributed this to the unusual paper.

I'm still uncertain how it was printed....perhaps screen printed like old French posters.

I couldn't pull up a photo from the link you shared. Is there one?

Best,
Tim

You didn't post the painting on the ebay forum discussion Bill H. has linked? Two pictures of the work appear on the second page of discussion there, one apparently with some sort of identifying label across the bottom of the picture. Does yours have the same label or has it perhaps been cut off?

Not me....it has been years since i've done anything on Ebay,. I found the pic on the link. The previous owner must have trimmed the print when it was framed.

"Early autumn 1956, imitating Wang Zhen's Eight Immortals Drunk on Wine, XX Zhou" (Zhou being the surname shown in the seal, the XX characters likely a pen name for the artist but I can't make them out).

I haven't seen this paper used for paintings before the late 60s, but I imagine it existed since it was used then. Still, I would have guessed a more recent date but for the lunar year named in the inscription. It can't be 1896, Wang Zhen wasn't a well known painter then.

With rat's help, I believe the characters in the inscription probably are as follows, with one possible exception:

丙申秋初仿?王一亭, 八仙醉酒宜追

Bing shen qiu chu fang? Wang Yiting, Baxian zui jiu yi dui

Early autumn 1956 imitating Wang Yiting (Wang Zhen alias), 'The Eight Immortals becoming Drunk on wine' suitably engraved

I've heard that paper made of mulberry is especially prized in Japan and often seen used in recent years as name cards. An acquaintance in Taiwan about 30 years ago operated a factory producing handmade mulberry paper stock for name cards that were created individually, each pressed with a naturally irregular border. Quite expensive as I recall.

Also need to correct my transposition of Ikua Zhou 's lifespan to 1917-2003.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thanks, Rat.

I think Bill H. hit the nail on the head....looks like my painting is actually a print.

On a positive note, I have a very interesting painting with several seals to share...check out my new post.

Best,
Tim

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