Attributed to Lu Hongnian (Chinese, 1919-1989) A

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Attributed to Lu Hongnian (Chinese, 1919-1989) A Volume of San Cai Tu Hui "Assembled Illustrations of the Three Powers", Decorated with Fore-Edge Painting Ink on paper 10-3/4 x 6-7/8 x 1 inches (27.3 x 17.5 x 2.5 cm) (overall) The fore-edge of this volume is decorated with a painting by the renowned artist Lu Hongnian (1919–1987). Lu Hongnian was a native of Taicang, Jiangsu Province. He studied landscape painting under Li Zhichao before attending the Department of Fine Arts at Fu Jen Catholic University, where he later remained as an instructor. In 1937, he was appointed a researcher at the Chinese Painting Research Institute of the National Peiping Antiquities Museum and subsequently studied under Huang Binhong. After 1949, he served as Lecturer and Associate Professor in the Department of Chinese Painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He specialized in finely executed gongbi figure painting in rich colors and was especially renowned for his depictions of Christian and biblical subjects. Fore-edge painting is a Western decorative technique that was introduced by Dr. William Bacon Pettus (1880-1959), an American teacher in Peking, and adapted by Chinese booksellers during the Republic period (1912–1949). They would take incomplete sets of Ming-dynasty books and commission artists to paint Christian figures, landscapes, or floral compositions on the fore-edge. The finished books were then housed in finely made brocade-covered cases and sold to the Western market. This work depicts a conversation between Yao Shan and Li Hsiang in an outdoor setting under a pine tree. Since the late twentieth century, this small group of Ming editions with fore-edge paintings were discovered in the American market. Owing to their highly specialized nature, they remain little known among Chinese collectors. These works enhance the collectible appeal of the books through their distinctive decoration while remaining exceptionally rare. Fewer than several dozen examples of Chinese rare books with fore-edge paintings are known to survive. As such, they provide tangible evidence of cultural exchange between China and the West, while also serving as valuable material for the study of bookbinding, decorative arts, and the localization of Christian iconography in China. The Sancai Tuhui (????; Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms) is a richly illustrated Chinese encyclopedia compiled by the scholar Wang Qi (who obtained the jinshi degree in 1565) together with his son Wang Siyi during the late Ming dynasty. Completed in 1607 and first published in 1609, the work comprises 106 chapters arranged into fourteen thematic categories. Conceived as a comprehensive survey of the "three realms" of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, it encompasses a wide range of subjects, including astronomy, geography, human anatomy, agriculture, costume, ritual, animals, plants, and implements. HID03101062020 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

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