Footnotes

Kenneth Ferguson (1930-2016), was born in Gateshead, England in 1930. He was summoned to join HM Forces (RAF) in 1949, served at the Ministry of National Insurance before he entered the Foreign Office by examination, coming out top in 1952. He was dispatched to Washington DC, USA in the following year, where he met and married Mrs. Ferguson.

On Sep 22, 1955, the couple set foot in Beijing, China for their very first diplomatic post in the Far East. The collection of six wonderful paintings by Qi Baishi, the most beloved Chinese artist of his time, was the happy reminiscence of their life in the ancient oriental capital. They stayed in Beijing for over 2 years, by the end of November 1957, they moved on to their next journey in Tehran, followed subsequently by Moscow, Brussels, Warsaw, Dublin, Manila, as well as Turks & Caicos Islands in Central America. Mr. Ferguson retired from his office as First Secretary in 1990.

Being an enthusiast for life, Mr. Ferguson was a keen traveller in his diplomatic career as well as being an amateur photographer, philatelist and collector of works of art. He recounted that Beijing was culturally the most stimulating post he ever experienced. He made the most of his free time, travelling and photographing interesting temples and buildings while at the same time taking any opportunity to visit markets, purchasing articles he found to be of interest; he particularly liked ceramics, woodwork and paintings. Mr. Ferguson recalled in later life to his children that he felt particularly privileged to have known the artist Qi Baishi in person.

肯尼思·福格森（1930-2016），出生於英國北部蓋茨黑德，一九四九年應召入伍進入英國皇家空軍，服務於國家保險部。一九五二年，他以優異的成績考入外交部，次年即被派駐美國華盛頓。駐華府期間，福格森與先期派駐此地的福格森夫人相愛結褵。一九五五年九月二十二日，夫婦二人抵達北京，開始為期兩年又兩月餘的駐京生活，直至一九五七年十一月底方離京，赴任伊朗首都德黑蘭。此後，福格森夫婦先後輪駐前蘇聯莫斯科、比利時布魯塞爾、波蘭華沙、愛爾蘭都柏林、菲律賓馬尼拉以及中美洲科克斯和凱科斯群島等地，再未重返中國。一九九O年，福格森先生自英國外交部一等秘書任上榮休。 肯尼思·福格森愛好廣泛，對派駐地的文化藝術充滿濃厚興趣，又鍾愛攝影，外出必攜一架相機。故一九五七年訪問齊白石，便於家庭相簿中留下珍貴的回憶。其中一張相紙上有手寫「CHIH PAI SHIH AUGUST 1957」字樣，意為「齊白石，1957年8月」，推測為照片沖洗時間，蓋因舊時相紙矜貴，一卷影完需些時日。就照片中各人裝束，並結合白石家中牆上黃曆，福格森夫婦及友人訪問白石的時間，或在一九五七年四月二十四日。本輯白石六件作品，除齊白石、王雪濤合作〈草蟲牽牛花〉（編號232）購於一九五六年十二月六日，其餘五件則分別於一九五七年六月十五日、十七日及八月十六日三次購得，頻頻購買畫作，大約和四月拜訪過畫家本人，不無關係吧！ 藏家完整保留的原始發票上，可見簡體字朱紅公章一枚，「公私合营东单珠宝砧翠义和兴门市部（公司合營東單珠寶鑽翠義和興門市部）」。據考，北京實現全行業公私合營乃自一九五六年一月起，而《關於公布〈漢字簡化方案〉的決議》亦於此時推出，一張小小的發票，記錄了五十年代兩件影響深遠的歷史事件，更令這一沉寂了六十餘年的海外珍藏，別具意義。

Note: According to the original invoice, this lot was purchased on 15 Jun 1957 in Beijing for CNY40.

齊白石　飼雛圖　水墨紙本　立軸

款識：
白石。

鈐印：齊大

註：此作乃原藏家於一九五七年六月十五日以人民幣四十元購於北京，並附原始發票。