146 x 67,4 cm Condition In the Style of Shen Quan (1682-ca.1760), Pair of Deer Beneath a Waterfall, China, dated 1744. Hanging scroll, 146 x 67,4 cm, ink and colors on silk. Signature by the artist: "In the second month of spring in the jiazi year of the Qianlong period (1744) painted in the small building at the eastern lake, Nanpin Shen Quan". Two seals of the artist: "Shen Quan zhi yin", "Nanpin". On the right side a title slab by Qian Yong (1759-1844) inserted into the new mounting: "Calling Deer beneath Pines at a Waterfall, an original painting by Shen Nanpin from Wuxing. A genuine work judged and collected in the Lingfen Hall. Written by Meixi Qian Yong". Shen Quan, style name Nanpin, was a native of Wuxing in Zhejiang Province and a professional painter of flowers and birds as well as mammals. He followed Lü Ji (active ca. 1475-1503) in the use of the meticulous style and bright colors. In 1731 he was invited to Japan by the Shogun Yoshimune to paint pictures in the style of the Ming dynasty for him. He spent two years in Nagasaki painting and teaching Chinese painting to the Japanese who admired him very much. Today most of his surviving works are to be found in Japan. Qian Yong, style name Meixi, was a noted calligrapher and landscape painter from Wuxi in Jiangsu Province-Property from a German private collection by descent 1972 to the present owner-Minor traces of age