KANG YOU WEI (1858-1927)

COUPLET IN RUNNING SCRIPT

A Chinese scroll of calligraphy, ink on paper, the couplet reads shan rong qian zhong shi chuan liu yi mo yun, signed by Kang You Wei with two artist's seals, 142cm x 38cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Lin Wen Zhi (d.1994) acquired in the 1950s and thence by descent.

Lin was the oldest son of a wealthy and influential family, he studied at the University of Shanghai during the 1920s, he was sent from Shanghai to Singapore to help in his uncle's business. After the Second World War, he went on to start his own businesses, then he re-established the family tea business in his late 70s.