149 x 47 cm Condition Style of Da Chongguang (1623-1692), China, dated 1687, Plum Blossoms, Narcissus and Camellia. Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk. Inscription by the artist, signature: "In the winter of the dingmao year (1687) painted by Xintian". Three seals: "Da Chongguang yin", "Jiangshang waishi", "Songzi ge". Three collectors' seals: "Collection of the Biwu studio" (Biwu shuwu zhencang", "Zisun yongchang", "Collection of the Hua family of Xishan" (Xishan Hua shi zhenshang). Da Chongguang, alias Jiangshang waishi, was from Dantu in Jiangsu. After the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 he became an official under the Qing dynasty but retired early and went to live in the Maoshan Mountains to dedicate himself to Daoist studies. He wrote two treatises on calligraphy and painting (shufa and huaquan) and devoted himself to painting landscapes and flowers in an amateurish literati style. There is a handscroll by him in the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin depicting orchids and rocks. See: Lothar Ledderose: Orchideen und Felsen. Chinesische Bilder im Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Berlin (1998), Nr. 26.-Acquired at Lempertz, Cologne, 22nd March 1973, auction 531, no. 1143-Minor restorations, very minor damage due to age