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Hello, This painting on silk is in rather rough condition, cupped and cracked so I have never displayed it in my home. I always planned to get it remounted but unfortunately my restorer has retired so it is now too late to consider!
Does anyone know of the the author or any other information on the seals or inscriptions? Is it a copy of an earlier work perhaps?
I have enhanced the third image as the overall colour of the work is quite dark.

Thanks in advance

Larry

Inscriptions,
壬辰九秋書為
雷仁兄大人雅属
薌湖居士蔣蓮
Painted in the Year of Water-Dragon (1832) Late Autumn Time for
my respected friend Mr. Lei by
the Retired Scholar of Xiang Hu (Fragrant-weed Lake), Jiang Lian
Upper seal,
蔣蓮　 - Jiang Lian
Lower seal,
君光　-　Junguang - Style-name

Jiang　Lian 蔣蓮　(c.1796-c.1840)
Qing Dynasty painter. Was good at painting figures of gods,high officials and ladies etc. During the Daoguang and Xianfeng years of Qing Dynasty his paintings were favored throughout the country.

With regards,
I.Nagy

While it appears at first glance as a disaster, one of the wonders of Chinese and Japanese scroll making is the ability to completely disassemble the parts of the scroll, and restore it.

The scroll comprises (1) the paper or silk on which the painting resides, (2) one or two backing papers to stabilise the painting, (3) the surrounding silks, and finally (4) a strong backing to unify the whole process. Of course there are also the roller and top baton to be included, but they have less to do with the actual restoration process.

So, first the painting is carefully removed from the scroll. Re backed with paper, and a new scroll created. Any losses of paper can be patched during the re-backing, and retouching if necessary can be done.

But choose your restorer carefully. Make sure they really know what they are doing or damage can be irreparable.

Good luck!

Thank you so much I.Nagy, really appreciate your help.

Larry

Mike, Do you have anyone you could recommend to remount the work? I see there are people in Japan that can do it, but if I go that route the painting would be mounted Japanese style; would that be a detriment to the work in your opinion?

Larry

Some years ago, I used Man Luen Choon in Hong Kong to remount and rescroll a valuable calligraphy piece. I feel they could be someone to talk to, but am unsure of the situation in that city at the moment. < manluenchoon.com > (look for the English language page)

The Japanese remounters would also do a first rate job in my opinion. If you used them, you could ask for a scroll in the Chinese style. But Japanese scrolls are very beautiful also.

Thanks Mike, I'll check out Man Luen Choon, appreciate it!
BTW - do you think there's a chance the painting is a copy and thereby decorative value only?

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