18"x24"

Herd of Deer in a Grove of Maple

Unknown Artist, Five Dynasties (906-960)

Original: Hanging-scroll, Ink and colours on silk, 118.5cm x 64.6cm, Unsigned

Collector's seals: There are two Yuan dynasty seals Ku'ei-chang and T'ien-li, the personal seals of Li Chih-sui and A-erh Hsi-p'u. There are five Ch'ien-lung seals.

  

 


Three principal reasons account for the loss of the name of a painter of a particular painting: many old masters liked to sign their names in small characters in an empty space between rocks and trees; such spaces were often at the side of the painting where they were most vulnerable to loss in remounting or other alteration. Some painters purposely left their paintings unsigned while others signed on the reverse side. The lack of signature on this painting arises evidently from one of these reasons.