A PORTRAIT OF A DOG SIGNED BANDALISHA, QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY |

ink and colour on silk, vividly painted in precise detail with a canine standing affirmatively on powerful paws, possibly an English beagle, its head slightly turned and foreshortened, lively painted with a pair of curious eyes, long ears and a short snout, coated overall in meticulously rendered chocolate-brown and white fur, creating an illusion of three-dimensionality through subtle changes of light and shadow, the foreground sparsely planted with morning glories and tuberoses, the background left undecorated, the right edge inscribed vertically with the characters Chen, Bandalisha gonghua (respectfully painted by your humble servant Bandalisha), followed by the seal Bandalisha

The portrait is in good overall condition, with just typical minor tears (largest 1.2 by 0.4cm on the undecorated background) and creasing. The colours are very well preserved, with just minute losses to the white and brown fur.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Meticulously painted to the finest details, the present work depicts a dog standing foursquare, possibly an English beagle, with a handsome face framed by a pair of long, soft ears. Apparently influenced by Western painting techniques, the subtle shading of the painstakingly penciled brown-and-white hair of the canine imbues it with a sense of three dimensionality. The background, however, adapts the Chinese tradition and is largely left undecorated, except for the foreground, where a few sprays of morning glories and tuberoses are planted. According to the inscription, it is painted by Bandalisha, one of the few Chinese apprentices of the most famous Jesuit painter at the court, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766). The present scroll shares the theme and composition with several masterworks by Castiglione, suggesting that it was a study completed under the instruction of the teacher. Bandalisha, probably from the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner, was a court painter in the Kangxi and Yongzheng period. In the 52nd year of the Kangxi period (1713), based on a ginseng plant at the imperial Summer Palace in Jehol, he completed Ginseng Blossoms, an oil painting on fine Korean paper bearing an inscription by his Majesty, now preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibited in Emperor Kangxi and the Sun King Louis XIV, Taipei, 2011, cat. no. IV-71. Bandalisha’s work, completed prior to Giuseppe Castiglione’s arrival at Beijing, demonstrates his solid foundation of oil painting, which is probably linked to another Italian painter, Giovanni Gherardini (1655-1723), who served the court earlier in 1700-1704 (Wang Yao-ting, ‘Imperial Paintings during the Kangxi’s Reign in the National Palace Museum’, Sino-Western Cultural Exchange in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1662-1722), Taipei, 2011, p. 118).

Bandalisha started to learn directly from Giuseppe Castiglione no later than the first year of the Yongzheng period (1723); see Qinggong Neiwufu Zaobanchu dang’an zonghui [General collection of archival records from the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing, vol. 1, p. 74. His longevity painting of pine and deer, completed in the 7th year (1729), was highly appreciated by the Emperor, who subsequently raised Bandalisha’s monthly salary and gave him a house (ibid., vol. 3, p. 677; vol. 4, p. 125). After the 10th year (1732), however, there is no further mention of Bandalisha in the surviving court archives and it is believed that he no longer worked for the court thereafter (Nie Chongzheng, ‘Bandalisha, renshenhua tu [Bandalisha, Ginseng Blossoms]’, Forbidden City, 2010, no. 5, p. 63).

Giuseppe Castiglione, the mentor of Bandalisha, painted several dog portraits, including that of a Tibetan mastiff in the series Ten Fine Hounds, a gift by Fuqing (d. 1750) between 1746 and 1750. The morning glories and tuberoses in the foreground, probably executed by Chinese court painters, resemble those on the present scroll, suggesting that both works shared the same prototype (Gugong shuhua tulu/Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Painting in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1990-2012, vol. 14, pp. 79-80).