Title: Landscape of Flowing Mountains and Forests, Circa 1800-1900. A Beautiful Ink Wash Painting by an Unknown Literati Painter, Cleverly Forging Wang Hui’s Signature and Artist Seals
Author: After Wang Hui, Unknown Copyist
Condition: Very Good
A Late Edo to Meiji Period, 19th century landscape painting, displaying a beautiful mountainscape with numerous trees dotting the landscape.
The painting has been spuriously attributed to the Qing painter Wang Hui but is most certainly by a talented literati copyist. While the painting is certainly in the style of Hui, the linework is not quite as detailed as his examples, the signature and inscriptions too clean, and the seals being weaker impressions of his originals.
As Hui was one of the Four Wangs of early Chinese landscape painting during the Ming-Qing Periods, it is not uncommon to see claimed attributions like this. Still, a fine painting, though frustrating that the actual artist did not leave their own seal for identification.
The painting has been neatly mounted onto a brocade decorated kakejiku (hanging scroll), with jikusaki (knobs) made of lacquered wood. There is a somewhat damaged wooden box to accompany it, preserving the scroll.
One painting mounted on a kakejiku (hanging scroll), 187 x 63.5 cm full size, 121 x 51 cm main painting
This painting is in very good shape, with minor creasing and staining to the painting.