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Hi, We acquired this painting from the Qing Dynasty (1762) and wanted to know if this is authentic and/or what the value might be. The size is 27"H x 16"W. Any advice would be appreciated!

The inscription on the upper blank part is a panegyric dedication to the painting which according to my understanding depicts Vyasa the Indian sage teaching about the lineage of the next Buddha as it is described in the Vimalakirti Sutra.
Colophon reads,
乾隆壬午新秋　-　At the Beginning of Autumn of the Year of Water-Horse during the Qianlong Reign
(1762)
御賛　-　Dedication
Upper seal,
乾　-　Qian
Lower seal,
隆　-　Long

Seal on the left side,
太上皇帝之寶　-　Treasure of the Most Exalted Emperor (Seal of Qianlong)
Seal beneath the dedication,
宣統御覧之寶　-　Treasure Seen by Xuantung
(Xuantung,title of reign of the last Emperor of China, Puyi)

I think this is a repro.

With regards,
I.Nagy

Hi I. Nagy. Thanks for the info! What are the indications that this is a reproduction?

Dear Chris,
The originality of a picture from the Imperial Collection with a dedication written by the emperor himself is not very conceivable, unless you have the documentation of the provenance with the certification of its authenticity.

With regards,
I.Nagy

As I.Nagy indicates, this is not an original painting. The original painting on which your picture is based is in the National Palace Museum Taiwan and was painted by Yao Wenhan (who was copying a Song original). A photo of it is in 故宮書畫圖錄, vol. 13, p. 375. That painting includes a different array of (fewer) seals than yours and lacks the Qianlong emperor's inscription, which I think must have been photoshopped into an image of the NPM painting along with the airborne flower from another source, before the resulting collage was color-printed.

There is another image of this version of Vimalakirti in the Palace Museum, Beijing that may be the source of the inscription/seals on yours, but I saw it so long ago I can't remember now whether it included an inscription. I do remember that painting is in monochrome ink rather than color, however.

There are other examples that are posed differently. Here is one in ink in the Kyoto National Museum (scroll 2 screens the right): https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/kyoto-national-museum%E2%80%99s-collection-of-chinese-paintings/KgKSLUdOfiZtIg

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