'THREE MANCHURIAN CRANES', BY YU FEIAN (1888-1959) China. Ink and watercolors on handwoven silk. Depicting three cranes in flight framed by swirling clouds, their plumage neatly painted. Inscribed with a poem by Zhao Ji, the personal name of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (1082-1135).

Inscriptions: Center left, with an extract of a poem by Zhao Ji, signed 'Yu Feian'. Three seals, 'Yushanyan zhai' (Studioname of Yu Feian), 'Yu Zhao he yin', and 'Fei An'

Provenance: British trade.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few stains and creases, minor foxing to the frame.

Dimensions: Image size 83.4 x 37.4 cm, Size incl. mounting 192.8 x 50.9 cm

Zhao Ji was the personal name of Emperor Huizong of Song (1082-1135), the eighth emperor of the Northern Song dynasty. Emperor Huizong was a great painter, poet, and calligrapher. The emperor took huge efforts to search for art masters. He established the Hanlin Huayuan ('Hanlin Imperial painting house') where top painters around China shared their best works. The primary subjects of his paintings are birds and flowers.

Yu Feian (1888-1959), also known Yu Zhaoge, was born in Beijing where he was taught by calligraphers and painters since early childhood. He specialized in brush paintings depicting flowers and birds and later served as a researcher at the Institute of Ethnic Art of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Yu Feian was also the vice president of the Chinese Painting Research Association, and of the Beijing Painting Institute, and wrote several books.

The red-crowned crane (Grus Japonensis), also called the Manchurian crane, is a large East Asian crane and among the rarest cranes in the world. In China, it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity, and fidelity.

Literature comparison:
A scroll painting by Zhao Ji, depicting cranes in flight above a palace roof, possibly the inspiration for the present painting, is in the collection of the Liaoning Museum.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 October 2007, lot 228
Price: HKD 211,500 or approx. EUR 39,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Yu Fei'an 1888-1959, Pine and crane


于非闇(1888-1959) 款《瑞鶴圖》
中國，絹本設色。描繪了三隻雲中飛鶴，姿勢優美。筆左下角仿宋徽宗瘦金體題《題瑞鶴圖》詩，橫似鶴骨，勾若鷺喙，瘦逸而遒勁。

款識：清曉觚棱拂彩霓，仙禽告瑞忽來儀。飄飄元是三山侶，兩兩還呈千歲姿。非闇。
鈴印：玉山硯齋，于照和印，非闇

來源：英國古玩交易。
品相：狀況極好，輕微磨損，輕微污漬和摺痕、褐變。

尺寸：畫面83.4 x 37.4 厘米，總192.8 x 50.9 厘米

于非闇（1889年3月22日—1959年7月3日），原名于魁照，後改名於照，近現代中國畫家。自幼得書畫家傳，歷任中央美術學院民族美術研究所研究員、北京中國畫研究會副會長、北京畫院副院長。

文獻比較：
現拍品可能是受到《宋徽宗瑞鶴圖卷》影響，原圖收藏於遼寧省博物館。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2007年10月5日，lot 228
價格：HKD 211,500（相當於今日EUR 39,500）
描述：于非闇(1888-1959) 《松下瑞鶴圖》