GROUP OF THREE INK RUBBINGS
《關聖帝君像》 及 二菩薩立像圖 水墨紙本 拓片 立軸 （共三幅）關聖帝君像 款識: 康熙六十年嵗次辛丑孟春穀旦、白山弟子李進泰薰沐敬摹菩薩立像其一 款識: 興和元年己▢一月朔日羊宇▢義敬造佛像一軀comprising: one depicting Guan Yu, 98.4cm x 48.3cm; the other two each with a standing Bodhisattva, 157.5cm x 50.5cm and 123.5cm x 52.2cm, all mounted as scrolls (3)
Private Scottish collection, Melrose; acquired in China in the 1940's when working for Shell, thence by descent.
Guan Yu (160-220), also known as Guan Yunchang, was a Chinese military general during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. This rubbing is taken from a Qing engraving of Guan Yu by Li Jintai based on a Ming dynasty stone carving. A comparable example is at the Berkeley Library, University of California, accession no. Tsa 179. A comparable ink rubbing of the Bodhisattva without inscription is in the Shaanxi Province Art Museum, attributed to Avalokitesvara and the original work of the Sui dynasty. Also see a comparable example inscribed by Pu Xinyu, sold at Rongbaozhai, Nanjing, 8 July 2017, lot 310.The other ink rubbing of a standing Bodhisattva has inscriptions on the podium, dated to the first year of Xing He reign, during the Western Wei Dynasty, corresponding to 539AD.