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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Asian Art
• Sale Date:
  07 Dec 2022 ~ Session 1 (Lots 1 - 143) 2pm (AEDT)
  07 Dec 2022 ~ Session 2 (Lots 201 - 294) 6pm (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  44
• Lot Description:
  Oswald Sirén (1879–1966), Gardens of China, inscribed by Pu Ru (1896-1963)
  The Ronald Press Company, New York, 1949, autographed by the author, with a dedication to J. H. Chang, Chang Jen-hu (1927-2019), dated Taipei, May 14, 1956, various pages inscribed possibly by J. H. Chang, and by Pu Ru
  31.0cm L x 24.2cm W x 4.2cm D
• Provenance:
  J. H. Chang (1927-2019), gifted by the author; Pu Ru; Hsiao Chung Lung (1947-2008), acquired in Taipei in a secondhand bookstore; The Hsiao family collection, Melbourne
• Notes:
  Osvald Sirén was a Finnish-born Swedish art historian whose interests included the art of 18th century Sweden, Renaissance Italy and China. In the area of Chinese art, his major books include Gardens of China, China and Gardens of Europe of the 18th century, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, and The Walls and Gates of Peking (1924). In Gardens of China, Sirén combines his knowledge in Chinese paintings and gardens and borrows heavily from classical Chinese paintings to interpret and analyse the aesthetics of Chinese gardens. J. H. Chang was a Taiwanese educator, geographer specialised in ancient climate change, and the agricultural development of mainland China and Taiwan. It must have been the common interest of Chinese landscapes which brought Sirén and Chang together. In the pages of this book, handwritten notes in ballpoint pen and fountain-pen are seen throughout converting the transliterations of Chinese names and places to Chinese. These notes may have been written by Chang. The plates in this book include a few photos of Prince Gong's Mansion. Pu Ru was the last descent of the family who lived there, and who has inscribed heavily on these pages. Next to a portrait of himself holding a parrot (pl.137), he writes, "This photo was taken when I was 36 years of age in front of the Bianfu Pavilion... (this is when) nine years after I had returned from Germany with two Ph.D., my mother ordered me to study." In some of the pages he corrects mistakes by the author, mostly in the names of places. Next to pl.135, he quotes a popular poem by Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang dynasty, lamenting a lost homeland, a sentiment fit for his own circumstances.
• Estimate:
  A$500 - 800
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Books & Manuscripts

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.