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My father has a few pieces of art from China that is over 100 years old. It was brought to Canada by a diplomat living in China over 100 years ago, and my father acquired them from the diplomats son after he passed away at an estate sale.

I was wondering what the process would be to get something like this identified.

I’ve attached a few images so you have an idea what I am talking about. I’ve tried for months to find someone willing to appraise it or identify it– but so far with no luck.

I've attached some images and zoomed in some of the stamps/identifying marks.

Hoping the community can help me out or point me in the right direction.
I posted some more pictures on reddit as well (See link)



Link :Some Pictures I posted on Reddit

Pic.1,
奇峰谷到深蔵閑飛閣
清空存暮雲
In the deep of the valley amid the magnificent peaks a leisure pavilion is hidden
There are twilight clouds in the blue sky
Signature,
春生　-　Chunsheng (Sow in Spring) Courtesy name
Seal,
春生　-　Chungsheng

In the largest Chinese ID dictionary I found the following 3 Qing Dynasty painter with the above courtesy name,
許堯　-　Xu Yao
鄭延杰　-　Zheng Yan Jie
錢本選　-　Qian Ben Xuan

Without proper reference material (pictures, signature/seal) the ID cannot be decided

Pic.2.
深山蔵古寺　孤艇泛中流
Ancient temple hidden in deep mountains
Boat is floating alone in midstream
Signature　seal,
春生　- Chunsheng

With regards,
I.Nagy

Thank you!

First of all - please forgive my ignorance - but is the signature/seal the artist name or the collector name? I read online that the stamps were sometimes the marks of people who collected these pieces?

Is there any way to determine about how old these are?
I assume they aren't worth much - but would there be any point getting them appraised?

Dear Jordan,

The signature and seal belonged to the artist himself with courtesy name Chunsheng. Collectors do not use courtesy names, and never sign their own names on paintings except of appraisal legends. According to the provenance you have submitted your paintings belonged to a diplomat who bought them in China over 100 years ago. Therefore,
the painter should have been active at the end of the Qing dynasty and early Republic era.
The courtesy names of famous painters can be found on the net or in ID dictionaries. In the largest Chinese ID dictionary I have found three painters with this courtesy name, but no hit on the net. Therefore, in the absence of reference pictures and seal imprint samples we are really in the dark.

With regards,
I.Nagy

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