A set of four famille rose 'figural' plaques attributed to Wang Qi Republican period | 民國 王琦（款） 粉彩人物故事圖瓷板四件

Chan Shing Kee gallery, 228-230 Queens road central, Hong Kong (between 1977 and 1986).

Collection of Lord Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, thence by descent in the family.

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於1977-1986年間得自陳勝記家具文玩，香港皇后大道中228至230號

邁克爾·沈弼男爵珍藏

後家族流傳至今男爵珍藏

After the fall of the Qing dynasty, imperial orders for porcelain dwindled at Jingdezhen, the main porcelain production center of China. Porcelain artists, released from Imperial restraints, and eager to develop new markets, developed new styles. In 1928 eight of the leading artists formed a group, calling it Yueman hui (Full Moon Society) because they met to exchange ideas about art during the full moon. Wang Qi was the founding member of this group, which because it had eight members later came to be known as Zhushan Bayou (Eight Friends of Zhushan). 

The development of Wang Qi's mature style can be traced to a trip he made to Shanghai in 1916 to see an exhibition of works by a group of painters called Yangzhou Baguai (the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou). Wang was so impressed by the paintings of Huang Shen, one of the Eight Eccentrics that he started to emulate Huang's style. This led him to use rapid and expressionistic brush strokes to create whimsical, exaggerated figures with sparse backgrounds, juxtaposed with long calligraphic inscriptions in running script, similar to examples of Huang's works illustrated in Yangzhou Bajia Huaji, Tianjin, 1995, nos. 75, 59, 64, 71-76 and 78.

Not content to just emulate Huang's style, Wang created his own by incorporating Western techniques in his work. This is seen in the use of light and shading on faces and clothing of the immortals in the present lot where realism and impressionism are harmoniously blended.

A set of four plaques by Wan Qi sold in our New York rooms, 17th March 2015 lot 295. Compare also a pair of plaques depicting luohans, sold at Bonhams San Francisco, 17th December 2013, lot 8353. Other examples are illustrated in Simon Kwan, Chinese Porcelain of the Republic Period, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 104-122.

Lord Michael Sandberg (1927-2017) was executive chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong from 1977 to 1986.