Extraordinarily Rare and Beautiful SHENG MOU, Chinese Yuan Master, Vtg. Print

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Extraordinarily Rare and Beautiful SHENG MOU, Chinese Yuan Master, Vtg. Print:
$175.00

Here for your collecting pleasure we are offering an extremely rare print taken from a scroll painted by one of the great masters of classic Chinese painting: SHENG MOU. Sheng Mou, a native of Chia-Hsing, was the son of Sheng Hung, who was also a noted artist. In painting landscapes, figures, plants, and birds, Sheng Mou was first influenced by his contemporary, Ch’en Lin, but later developed a style of his own. Sheng Mou lived in the same town with Wu Chen, another of the Yüan master painters. Sheng Mou\'s career as a successful professional painter frequently contrasted with that of his reclusive neighbor Wu Chen (1280–1354). Sheng Mou became well-known earlier than Wu Chen, but the latter eventually surpassed him in fame and accomplishment. This painting is important because it shows that Sheng was aware of Wu\'s style and adapted it for his own use. Recalling Wu Chen\'s depictions of hermit-sages, Sheng Mou shows his sage dressed in the elegant robes of a scholar, seated on a rock and meditating in an autumnal grove, against a background of clouds and mountains. This work, the Meditating in an Autumnal Grove, a painting on silk (135.3cm by 59cm), was painted in the early fourteenth century and is one of his best-known masterpieces. It demonstrates his exquisite command of technique and his sense of composition. The clouds break the background mountains into a central pyramid composition and a secondary pyramid, by softening the mountain line, he makes the immobile effect more pronounced. The clouds, by breaking the landscape into groups, makes the serenity of the foreground more pronounced, instead of simply being a border to the composition, it is a space of its own, in which the figure of the meditating sage on the lower left shines, even though he is tiny compared to the mountains. In the bottom section, Sheng Mou employs especially fine brush strokes, later copied in countless paintings, to give a refined sense of branching to the trees and the flow of the grass blades in the breeze. This gives the painting a soft yet distinct middle ground, and makes the mountains have an aura and distance which gives them greater grandeur and personality. The painting is rendered in ink monochrome with a touch of colour on silk. Sheng Mou’s signature and seal appear on the picture. This extraordinarily rare print was made in China under the authorization of the National Palace Museum of Taipei, Republic of China, in whose collection the original silk scroll resides. This print measures 20-3/8” by 14-1/2”; the borders of this print are of traditional rich ivory brocade print, with the centered print itself measuring 17-3/4” in height by 7-3/4” in width. The back of the print is inscribed in Chinese and in English with a description of the print and a short biography of the artist. Although the print is not dated in English, it is assuredly of an older vintage, perhaps about 50 to 60 years of age. I do not know their actual date of manufacture, as these were originally purchased by my parents, who had the good sense to acquire them in the 1960s. The print is in excellent condition for its age with minor corner bumps but no scratches, tears, marks, foxing, or other flaws that we can find anywhere. There is a tiny blue spot in the left border of the print, but this is not on the print itself and could perhaps be erased from the border area. We will leave that to the new owner. The colour of the print is true as taken from the original scroll and exhibits the deep tan-gold background patina one expects to find in ancient silk. What appear to be lighter marks in the upper section of the print are the true paler colours of the silk where it was pulled and tugged with age before its acquisition by the National Palace Museum; these are not considered flaws but rather marks of character which can only be acquired with its ancient age. The print is on heavy, smooth stock with a very slight semi-gloss (eggshell) finish. It is an exquisitely beautiful and extremely rare print. It has never been framed or displayed, and thus exhibits no fading. The print comes to you from an owner who is a professional theatrical costume designer and collector of vintage items. It has been carefully kept in a smoke-free, climate-controlled Environment, an antique-filled household where it has been stored away from sunlight and has been treated with respect and appreciation. We are starting it at a low beginning offer with . Please see the attached photos. A highly desirable addition to any collection, it is agrand print and has looked great in the collection but now we are preparing to relocate and don\'t want to move all these hundreds of items. Please check our other sales for more antique/vintage items. All estate items we offer on , including this one, are sold as-is. They are not sold \"on approval\" and are generally not returnable. We have a certain degree of experience and expertise but are not professional experts. If you have any questions about this or any of our other items, please e-mail BEFORE you offer and we will be happy to answer anything we can. Payment must be received within 10 days of the end of the sale; shipping will take place the next business day after payment is received. At this time,we are able to accept Paypal only. Because of therecent increase inpostage rates,we areonly able to ship throughout the USA.Postal insurance is not required by and is notincluded in this shipping cost; it is an option to be decided by the Buyer and added at the Buyer\'s request. Uninsured items are shipped at the Buyer\'s risk via U.S. Postal Service. If you want postal insurance, please notify Seller as soon as you win the offer, andpostal insurance fees will be added to your invoice before Seller submits the invoice to you. We cannot and will not be held responsible for loss or damage that may occur to uninsured items during shipping and/or once the item has left our hands for shipping. Please note: U.S. Mail takes from 4 to 21 days for delivery. Good luckofferding!