‘RED AND WHITE COTTON ROSES’, A PAIR OF SILK PAINTINGS AFTER LI DI (C. 1100–AFTER 1197)China, 19th century. Ink and watercolors on silk, with Japanese silk brocade frames and mounted as hanging scrolls. Each finely painted with two hibiscus blossoms borne on leafy stems, one depicting the flowers in the morning when they are white and the other showing them later in the day, as they gradually turn first pink and finally crimson red.Inscriptions: To each painting, upper left, inscribed ‘Painted by Li Di in the Year of Dingsi in the Qingyuan era’ (corresponding to 1197). Each scroll with a Japanese seal reading ‘Divine Class, Copy by Shimbi Shoin’.Provenance: From the collection of Felix Tikotin, and thence by descent within the family. The wood storage box with two old labels from the Shimbi Shoin, Tokyo, another inscribed ‘2/16/-’, and a fourth with an illegible inscription. Shimbi Shoin was a Japanese publisher, active between ca. 1899 and 1938, noted as the premier venue for art s that were highly acclaimed for their superior quality and technical excellence. Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) was an architect, art collector, and founder of the first Museum of Japanese Art in the Middle East. Born in Glogau, Germany, to a Jewish family, his ancestors had returned with Napoleon from Russia from a town named Tykocin. He grew up in Dresden and after World War I, he traveled to Japan and immediately fell in love with the culture. In April 1927, he opened his own first gallery in Berlin. The entire family survived the holocaust, and in the 1950s Tikotin slowly resumed his activities as a dealer in Japanese art. He became, once again, very successful and prominent, holding exhibitions all over Europe and the United States. When he first visited Israel in 1956, he decided that the major part of his collection belonged in that country. In 1960, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art was opened in Haifa.Condition: Good condition with minor wear, some creasing, small tears and losses.Dimensions: Image size 24.3 x 25.2 cm (each), Size incl. mounting 126.5 x 39 cm (each)With an old wood storage box. (3)Hibiscus mutabilis, also known as the cotton rose, is a plant long cultivated for its showy flowers. Floral color change occurs in H. mutabilis when flowers are white in the morning, turning pink during noon, and red in the evening of the same day. In Japan, they are also known as ‘drunk cotton roses’ (suifuyo) due to this color change from white to red, as depicted on these two hanging scrolls.Li Di (c. 1100 - after 1197) was a Chinese imperial court painter in the Song Dynasty. He was born in Heyang (present-day Meng County in Henan Province) and was noted for painting flowers, birds, bamboo, and animals in motion. Di was a member of the Academy of Worthies (Jixianyuan). Evidence that he was active as a painter during the latter half of the twelfth century is provided by the dates he wrote o