AFTER LENG MEI (19TH CENTURY)

LADY GONG SUN'S SWORD DANCE

A Chinese scroll painting, ink and colour on silk, signed Dong Ming Leng Mei zhi, and one illegible seal, 63cm x 30cm.

Provenance: from an English private collection, acquired c.1999 with a label which reads Christie's 24 June 1999, lot 328.

Lady Gong Sun's inventive sword dances in the Kaiyuan reign (713-741) of the Tang dynasty inspired the cursive calligraphy of Zhang Xu (c.675-741) and poetry of Du Fu (712-770). Wu Dao Zi (680-750), the great master of figure painting, was similarly inspired by the sword dance of General Pei. A burning candle shows that this is a night scene.