Beschreibung:

AN IMPORTANT AND EXTREMELY RARE PAINTING OF AN IMPERIAL COURTYARD-GARDEN SCENE BY HE SHIKUI QING DYNASTY, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY CIRCA 1844-1845 This magnificent and extraordinarily detailed nine-panel screen – originally conceivedas a large hanging scroll - depicts the imperial household at leisure in a garden landscape scene during late spring. The lower corner of the garden-courtyard scene is detailed with a young man, dressed in ethnic Han-style costume and holding a fan in one hand. He is standing in preparation of being received by a senior host, dressed in a blue-coloured informal court robe who is seated in a veranda in the centre of the painting, and is flanked on either side by elegant ladies and children of the household. Above the host is a horizontal pink-ground plaque that bears the characters in blue, Yehui chunfang , meaning Gathering and Nurturing the Fragrance of Spring Flowers, and is followed by the name Huanwen and a further two seals. 92 1/4 in. (234.32 cm.) high, 155 1/4 in. (394.34 cm.) wide overall Ink and colour on paper, later mounted as a nine-panel screen. Provenance Amber Lightfoot Walker (1919-2014), New York Amber Lightfoot Walker, was a New York socialite and philanthropist with a passion for the arts. New York Cultural institutions including Lincoln Center Theater, the Morgan Library & Museum and the 92nd Street Y were the beneficiaries of her estate and received generous donations in the name of Ms. Walker’s son, the late Christopher Lightfoot Walker. Amber Lightfoot Walker (1919-2014), was a New York socialite and philanthropist with a passion for the arts. She was married the Manhattan business titan Angus Lightfoot Walker (d. 1985), their only child, Christopher, died in 2012. New York Cultural institutions including Lincoln Center Theater, the Morgan Library & Museum and the 92nd Street Y were the beneficiaries of the estate of Amber Lightfoot Walker and received generous donations in the name of Mrs. Walker’s son, the late Christopher Lightfoot Walker.