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Dear all,
I would like to ask for help with the translation of these inscriptions present in a copy of the classic painting by Han Gan, could this copy be older than 20th century?
Thanks in advance

韓幹貢跡　　-　Signed by Hán Gàn
丁亥卿筆　-　Honorably Painted In the Year of Fire-Pig (747)

The original work is kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

It could be not much older than this century.

With regards,
I.Nagy

With regards,
I.Nagy

I think the inscription reads slightly differently:
韓幹真跡　Genuine trace (e.g. authentic work) by Han Gan
丁亥御筆 Inscribed by the imperial hand in 1107
The character at the bottom resembling 天 is a cipher reading 天下一人, which the Huizong emperor used as a signature.

Dear Rat,
I think you are right.
I.Nagy

It's a very close copy, not easy to do. Good picture of the original is here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Palefrenier_menant_deux_chevaux_par_Han_Gan.jpg

The text is the same as appears on the original: the Huizong emperor's attribution to Han Gan, the cyclical date, and the emperor's cipher.

If this was to predate the 20th century, the artist would have had to overcome several obstacles. First, access. Extremely few people had access to pictures in the imperial collection, much less had permission and the skills to copy them. Second, given how close the copy is to the original, I would think this would have had to have been a tracing copy. That would have required a strong light source, for two reasons: (a) the silk of the original painting has darkened over time, making it difficult to pick out details that are shown clearly in the copy (b) the copy is on silk, a thicker material to see through and trace over than paper.

Things that point to a recent date include the sharp wrinkles/creases in the silk, suggesting that the picture is unmounted and unbacked. I am unaware of any examples of unbacked paintings that predate the 20th century, whereas unmounted and unbacked works are sold by street vendors at tourist sites in China today. The seals on the copy are placed strangely, seemingly to mimic several collectors' seals on the original, but on the original they are placed where they are due to space constraints that don't exist on the copy. Good quality reproductions of this picture are easily available for purchase in China today, and this picture might be the subject of large-format "how to paint a copy of famous paintings" books that are sold at art bookstores and show the original and a close copy in great detail.

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