Footnotes

Treasury 4, no. 622


玻璃內畫黃忠雛雞鼻煙壺
自怡子，北京， 1901年

Ziyizi's Portrait of Tan Xinpei

Glass, ink, and watercolours; with a slightly concave lip and recessed convex foot surrounded by a protruding convex footrim; painted on one main side with a portrait bust of Tan Xinpei in the role of General Huang Zhong, set in an oval frame, the other main side with a rooster and five chicks on a grass-covered rocky outcrop beneath hanging willow branches and with peonies growing beyond, inscribed in draft script '[Executed] in the summer of the year xinchou by Ziyizi,' with one seal of the artist, yin (seal), in negative seal script
Ziyizi, Beijing, summer, 1901
Height: 6.9 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.74/1.83 cm
Stopper: amethyst
Condition: Bottle: perfect except for stress flaw in centre of base (extending 0.5–1.0 cm on either side of the central point of the base); common to this type of glass. Painting: studio condition


Illustration: watercolour by Peter Suart

Provenance:
Sigurd Larsen (prior to 1965)
Bob C. Stevens
Sotheby's, New York, 26 March 1982, lot 219
Mei Ling Collection
Sotheby's, New York, 15 March 1984, lot 203

Published:
Stevens 1976, no. 874
Chinese Snuff Bottles and Dishes 1978, no. 299
JICSBS, Summer 1984, p. 30, fig. 13
Kleiner 1987, no. 300
Kleiner 1995, no. 397
Treasury 4, no. 622

Exhibited:
Mikimoto Hall, Tokyo, October 1978
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, October 1987
Creditanstalt, Vienna, May–June 1993
British Museum, London, June–November 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July–November 1997
Christie's, London, 1999

Commentary
For Tan Xinpei (1847–1917) and the role of General Huang Zhong in which he is depicted here, see Treasury 4, no. 604. Since Ma Shaoxuan is known to have painted this subject several times prior to 1901, we can be reasonably certain that Ziyizi responded to this popular image in creating his own. By 1901 Ma would have created a demand for portraits of this famous Beijing opera star with his fairly large series of very similar portraits at the turn of the century. Ziyizi painted five versions that we know of, all shown within an oval frame, typical of most of his portraits. The rest are undated. It is unlikely that he would have painted five versions entirely for his own amusement, although they differ in composition somewhat more than Ma Shaoxuan's do. If he was indeed an amateur painter, it is more likely that he painted a series of them for various friends who were opera fans. He may, of course, have painted some commercially even if his main output was for his own amusement and for friends.

This is among his most impressive and one of the great masterpieces from his entire output, not only because of the subject and the excellent painting and lovely colouring, which is rather more subtle than Ma Shaoxuan's version where a single colour predominates, but because this is really a portrait of Tan Xinpei as much as it is a portrait of the role he is playing. All of Ziyizi's versions show only the upper shoulders and head, with the banners partly shown behind him. Ma's all include the upper half of the body, his halberd held across the body, and both hands, showing the face much smaller in relation to the composition than is the case here. Again we find Ziyizi following an earlier artist but painting very much his own version of it artistically. By emphasizing the head, Ziyizi has chosen to make the actor the subject of his portrait, but in a particular role, whereas Ma's versions tend to portray the role with a particular actor indicated, even though, at that time in Beijing, to show the role would have been to identify the actor, since Tan Xinpei made it his own with so definitive a version. Of all the portraits of Tan Xinpei in the role, this is probably the most compelling. Ziyizi painted many of his large figure subjects with a delightfully impressionistic style and an excellent colour sense, which is nowhere better demonstrated than here.

The subject on the other main side is obviously taken from Zhou Leyuan but, again, is entirely re-thought and painted entirely in Ziyizi's own style and with his own distinctive colouring and brushwork. The pale, pastel blue rock, for instance, is typical of Ziyizi's bold use of colour. The symbolism of a rooster with five chicks is explained under Treasury 4, no. 549, and that of the rock and peonies under Treasury 4, no. 466.

This is another of Ziyizi's masterpieces that is in studio condition, for which we may be grateful, since it allows us to see his extraordinary confidence with colour and his impressionistic style without hindrance.

自怡子畫譚鑫培飾演黃忠像

玻璃、墨、水彩；微凹唇、凸斂足，突出凸形圈足；一面內畫開光中清末京戲表演藝術家譚鑫培（1847～1917）飾演《定軍山》中的黃忠老將軍，另一面內畫奇石上的公雞一隻、雛雞五隻，右題"辛丑夏自怡子"，後落白文"印"一印

自怡子，北京， 1901
高：6.9 厘米
口經/唇經：0.74/1.83 厘米
蓋：紫水晶
狀態敘述：壺：完美，只有底由中心左右伸出0.5 厘米到1.0厘米的裂紋，在這種玻璃是常見的；內畫：出齋狀況

有彼德小話 (Peter Suart) 水彩畫

來源：
Sigurd Larsen（1965以前）
Bob C. Stevens
蘇富比，紐約，1982年3月26日，拍賣品號219
Mei Ling 珍藏
蘇富比，紐約，1984年3月15日，拍賣品號203
文獻：
Stevens 1976, 編號874
Chinese Snuff Bottles and Dishes 1978, 編號299
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society 1984秋期，頁30，圖13
Kleiner 1987, 編號300
Kleiner 1995, 編號 397
Treasury 4, 編號622
展覽：
Mikimoto 銀座大樓，東京，1978年10月
Sydney L. Moss Ltd, 倫敦, 1987年10 月
Creditanstalt, 維也納, 1993年5月至6月
大英博物館, 倫敦, 1995年6月～10 月
Israel Museum, 耶路撒冷, 1997年7～月11月
佳士得，倫敦，1999年

說明：
馬少宣1901年以前已經畫了幾次三國蜀國名將黃忠肖像，在世紀之交也畫了多數京戲表演藝術家肖像，很受歡迎的。自怡子也畫了五次傳世的黃忠內畫肖像，都在他所畫的肖像經常帶的橢圓形開光之內。雖然如今所知的這五幅肖像在布局方面比較多變化，但這不一定是意味著自怡子的內畫是自娛的。他同一個題目的五件內畫鼻煙壺可能是為朋友中的票友們、伶友們、京戲迷們等畫的。當然，盡管自怡子主要是業餘內畫家，他多畫幾件賣也是合乎情理的。

本壺是自怡子作品中最精彩的傑作之一。不但是主題好，繪畫藝術和著色賞心悅目（跟比馬少宣內畫的黃忠肖像相比，自怡子的是五彩繽紛的）， 而且自怡子所描繪的不僅是黃忠這個角色，也是譚鑫培本身。自怡子畫的五個黃忠肖像都顯示譚氏的頭和肩上部，面孔就相稱地大，而面孔特別傳神，這確是描繪一個正在飾演某角色中的譚鑫培；馬少宣畫的黃忠肖像則顯示上半身和雙手，黃忠身前拿著象鼻刀，這就是頂天立地奇男子，勇冠三軍大丈夫的肖像。在所有畫譚鑫培扮演黃忠的肖像之中，自怡子本壺內畫的這一肖像可推為最令人贊歎的。

另一正面的題材明明是採用周樂元題材的，可又是自怡子重新思考的，他發揮了自己的著色技法和筆畫風格。譬如說，奇石的崧蓝蓝色代表自怡子大膽的著色法。

幸運地，本壺保存得像剛畫成一樣，我們能夠充分地欣賞自怡子大膽運用色彩和他印象主義的筆法。