A PAIR OF ALBUMS, EACH WITH TWELVE ‘BUDDHIST SYMBOLS’ PAINTINGS, BY MEI LANFANG (1894-1961)
China. Comprising two accordion albums, each with twelve leaves, painted with ink and color on paper. Each leaf depicts the hand of a Buddhist deity or celestial maiden, emerging from swirling clouds and adorned with a gold bracelet suspending a red, a blue, and a green bead, and holding various attributes, accompanied by identifying inscriptions and excerpts from sutra texts, all within a band of alternating scroll designs and dharmachakra enclosed by an S-scroll border.


Inscriptions:

The titleslip of the first album: ‘Mei Lanfang xiansheng lin Dunhuang foshou shangce Zhongzhou Zhang Boju cang’ (Buddhist hand poses from the Dunhuang Caves by Mei Lanfang, Volume 1, Collection of Zhang Boju from Zhongzhou).

The titleslip of the second album: ‘Mei Lanfang xiansheng lin Dunhuang foshou xiace Zhongzhou Zhang Boju cang’ (Buddhist hand poses from the Dunhuang Caves by Mei Lanfang, Volume 2, Collection of Zhang Boju from Zhongzhou).


Provenance
: Formerly in the collection of Zhang Boju (1898-1982), who was known as one of the 'Four Young Princes' of the Republican era, who became one of the country's most discerning, as well as generous, connoisseurs and collectors of antiquities. He was China's most celebrated private art collector. His father Zhang Zhenfang was related by marriage to the first president of the Chinese Republic, Yuan Shikai, and himself was Chairman of the Board of the Salt Industry Commercial Bank. Zhang used his family's large fortune to indulge his love of antiques and art. He became an expert in this field, exchanging silver dollars, gold bars, jewelry, property, and even risking his own life (he was once kidnapped) to amass a collection of inestimable treasures that could rival those of the Palace Museum. He is quoted as once saying, “I do not wish to possess the things I collect. They should be handed down from one generation to the next. I sit at my desk and bury my head in my old books. This is the scholar's true task. May the weapons of war give way to eternal peace and may the people live in tranquility. What greater happiness can there be than this?”

Condition
: Very good condition with only very minor wear, little soiling and foxing, few tiny losses, and few minuscule tears.

Dimensions: Image size ca. 30 x 19.5 cm (each), Album size 36 x 22.5 cm (each)

Each album with a silk brocade front and back cover finely decorated with dragon roundels on a key-fret ground. (2)


The attributes and identifying inscriptions to each leaf are as follows:


Vol. 1:
Leaf 1 with a bronze seal with red ribbon (‘Kuanyin shou’).
Leaf 2 with a flaming pearl (‘Ruyiqiu shou’).
Leaf 3 with a vajra (‘Jingangchu shou’).
Leaf 4 with a lotus blossom (‘Honglianhua shou’).
Leaf 5 with a vase decorated with cloud designs (‘Baoping shou’).
Leaf 6 with a lotus blossom (‘Qinglianhua shou’).
Leaf 7 with a fly-whisk (‘Fuchen shou’).
Leaf 8 with a bronze model of a pagoda decorated with lotus petals (‘Baota shou’).
Leaf 9 with a khakkhara or Buddhist monk’s staff (‘Xizhang shou’).
Leaf 10 with a ceremonial axe (‘Fuyue shou’).
Leaf 11 with a crystal ball showing the Lunar Hare making the elixir of immortality (‘Yuejingmoni shou’).
Leaf 12 with a conch (‘Baoluo shou’).

Vol. 2:
Leaf 1 with a blue-glazed and gold-decorated kendi (‘Junchi shou’).
Leaf 2 with a sword, the pommel and cross-guard decorated with ruyi emblems (‘Baojian shou’).
Leaf 3 with a book (‘Baojing shou’).
Leaf 4 with a magic mirror with red ribbons (‘Baojing shou’).
Leaf 5 with a temple building (‘Huagongdian shou’).
Leaf 6 with a ceremonial dagger with blue ribbons (‘Baoji shou’).
Leaf 7 with a vajra (‘Bazheluo shou’).
Leaf 8 with a gold alms bowl decorated with scrolling foliage and lotus petals (‘Baobo shou’).
Leaf 9 with a lotus blossom (‘Baolianhua shou’).
Leaf 10 with a tablet with a fierce lion mask (‘Dunpai shou’).
Leaf 11 with a gold ghanta (‘Baoling shou’).
Leaf 12 with a ceremonial dagger (‘Kulouzhang shou’).


The paintings on the present albums
are based on statues or murals in the Dunhuang Caves, a term used to describe the famous Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, but also a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in and around the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves. Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, the Mogao Caves are situated at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural, and intellectual influences. The 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. Carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River, the 492 caves are presently preserved, housing about 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures. These works provide an abundance of vivid materials depicting various aspects of medieval politics, economics, culture, arts, religion, ethnic relations, and daily dress in western China. The unique artistic style of Dunhuang art is not only the amalgamation of Han Chinese artistic tradition and styles assimilated from ancient Indian and Gandharan customs, but also an integration of the arts of the Turks, ancient Tibetans, and other Chinese ethnic minorities. Many of these masterpieces are creations of an unparalleled aesthetic talent.


Mei Lanfang
(1894-1961), born Mei Lan, was an important Beijing opera (Jingju) artist in modern Chinese theater, and an accomplished painter. Mei was known as the ‘Queen of Peking Opera’ and was exclusively known for his female lead roles (dan), particularly his ‘verdant-robed girls’ (qingyi), young or middle-aged women of grace and refinement. He was considered one of the Four Great Dan, along with Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, and Xun Huisheng. Born into a family of famous actors, he learned from his family members and also from many teachers and went on to become a pioneer of the newly emerging dan (a female role) actor genre in the early 20th century. His performance style was rigorous and refined yet elegant and beautiful, appearing reserved but actually full of complexity: his singing was exquisite, pure and full; his spoken lines were delivered in a sweet but rich voice, strong but not rough. Mei's famous portrayal of Beauty Yu was so historically moving that Wenting Song said he was one of the greatest vocal artists in modern China.


Mei was the first artist to spread Beijing opera
to foreign countries, participating in cultural exchanges with Japan, the United States, and other regions. He toured the world, forming friendships with the western contemporaries of his day, including Charlie Chaplin. In 1930 he toured North America, visiting Hollywood, where he was welcomed by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. In 1935, Mei toured Europe, playing to appreciative audiences in Berlin and Moscow. Seeing Mei perform especially impressed the German playwright Bertolt Brecht and influenced his concept of the alienation effect.


In July 1937
, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred, and the Imperial Japanese Army soon occupied Beijing. The commander of the Japanese Army ordered Mei to perform for them and appointed Mei to a high rank official position, but Mei refused to sing throughout the duration of the war and endured an impoverished lifestyle until the war ended in 1945.
During this period, he relied solely on selling his paintings.
After 1949, he served as director of the China Beijing Opera Theater, director of the Chinese Opera Research Institute, and vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: China Guardian, Beijing, 21 March 2010, lot 1379
Price: CNY 156,800 or approx.
EUR 28,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Mei Lanfang, landscape and flowers
Expert remark: Compare the album of twenty-four small paintings (24 x 36 cm) by the same artist, albeit depicting a different subject.




《梅蘭芳先生臨敦煌佛手》上下兩冊

中國。 每冊有十二頁，紙本設色。分別描繪佛手及手中法器，並附有注釋和經文摘錄。


款識：
封面分別可見《梅蘭芳先生臨敦煌佛手上冊中州張伯駒藏》與《梅蘭芳先生臨敦煌佛手下冊中州張伯駒藏》


來源：
張伯駒（1898-1982）收藏。張伯駒原為民國“四少爺”之一，獨具慧眼，是知名的古物鑑賞家和收藏家。其父張鎮芳與中華民國第一任大總統袁世凱有姻親關係。張利用家族的巨額財富來滿足他對古董和藝術的熱愛。爲了不讓國寶流落在外，他不惜斥資甚至冒著生命危險收購。

品相：
狀況極好，只有輕微的磨損和污漬，有微小的缺損、撕裂。

尺寸：畫面約30 x 19.5 厘米，冊頁36 x 22.5 厘米



上冊:
觀音手，如意球手，金剛杵手，紅蓮花手，寶瓶手，青蓮花手，拂塵手，寶塔手，錫杖手，斧鉞手，月精摩尼手，寳螺手

下冊:
軍持手，寶劍手，寶鏡手，化宮殿手，寳經手，寳戟手，跋折羅手，寳缽手，寶蓮花手，盾牌手，寳鈴手，骷髏杖手


拍賣比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：北京中國嘉德，2010年3月21日，lot 1379
價格：CNY 156,800（相當今日
EUR 28,000
）
描述：梅蘭芳《山水和花卉》
專家註釋：比較同事梅蘭芳的二十四幅圖 (24 x 36 厘米) ，但不同的主題。