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Hello, and thank you ahead of time for any information you can give me on this Asian signature, which is found on a very old ink and pigment painting on silk. I am believing it is a Chinese signature, but cannot verify, although I have tried many times via the internet to decipher the seal and the signature. The artwork is quite exquisite, and quite large. It is that of a recumbent male lion as a very detailed portrait. Since I have seen little other Chinese art, aside from Wang Gui Qiu, depicting the realism of a natural lion portrait instead of a natural tiger portrait, finding the origin of this piece of art has been difficult. Hopefully someone in this forum can help. I am getting older now, and am trying to categorize the art I have for my successors. I so appreciate your help. Regards.

a picture would be helpful. If you cant manage an upload send a mail.

Wow. The photo from my phone is totally distorted. I will try to send you an e-mail with the photo attachment. Apologies.

Additional Post - Not sure why the photos of the signature and seal did not make it the first time. This actually could be a Xu Beihong from the period 1920-1922 when he was in Germany. He made quite a few paintings of the lions in the zoo. The detail is very excellent.

This site does not appear to reproduce my photos from my phone correctly. Apologies. Maybe it is the size requirements, or the dimension of the pictures. I will try posting the photos again reformatted to a different size. Thanks for oyur patience.

Signature reads,
華谷　-　Hua Gu
Seal,
x華　-　x Hua
印谷　-　yin Gu

Hua Gu (or Huagu) x seal

The 3rd x　character is too faint to read.
Maybe a blue filtered photo would make it easier to read.

Hua Gu 華谷　-　Surname and given name or
Huagu (Flower valley) given name or art-name (pseudonym)

Hua Gu or Huagu - unidentifiable artist.

With regards,
I.Nagy

Thank you so much. I have tried for years to uncover it on my own. It is one of my favorites pieces of art in my home. Very captivating. I found some similarities in some of Xu's signatures. That was the closest I got. It is behind glass, so getting a great shot of the seal was difficult. Many thanks, again. Drew

Looking up the Calligraphy for Hua and Gu (which match very well with the signature) they read "Magnificent" and "Old", which may well relate to the Lion itself. It is a mature male that is indeed magnificent in its portrayal. Don't know if Asian artists actually name the painting instead of themselves, but makes sense. Thanks, again. Drew

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