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I have two pieces of art which I am told are rubbings of the Emperor’s Taizong horses on paper scroll and I was recently told they bear the mark of Li Yuexi. Initially we had no idea (for years) or information on the artist mark but after research this past year we were informed the artist mark/seal on these two rubbings is that of Li Yuexi. The additional calligraphy with the names of the horses, Baitiwu (白蹄烏) and Shifachi (什伐赤) are believed to be the work of Yu Youren but we have no confirmation on that, that was just relayed to us based on the art and calligraphy. Any help identifying the characters of the picture or confirming what we have been told, is appreciated. Is the seal / stamp of the person whose name is 李月溪 Li Yuexi?? And are the two horse rubbings are from a tomb of the chinese emperor 李世民 Li Shimin?
They are on scroll paper which is mounted onto another material that appears to be linen. They were framed, sealed and purchased back February of 1953 by the Jean Bohne Art Dealers in New York City. She was known for fine art and antiques and had a gallery on 48th street back in the 1940’s and 50’s. They are still sealed in the original frame with the gallery seal. I have been hesitant to open the back up to see if there is anything else in fear it would result in damage to scroll paper/art.

They measure about 66.09 cm x 53.34 cm (26” x 21”) each. Any help with identification of the seal/mark and artwork is appreciated. Thank you.

1st rubbing:
白蹄烏　　Baitiwu
2nd rubbing:
什伐赤　　Shifachi
Since I could not find any reference rubbing picture on the net with Shao Lizhi`s horse name inscription, I do not know for sure whether this inscription was done by him or not.
The seal reads,
長安市隠李月溪手搨金石章
Hidden from view in Changan City
Li Yuexi`s hand rubbing from inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets
(In my dictionaries I can not find reference seal image)

The name Taizong (太宗）is a posthumous name given
to second emperor of a dynasty. In this case Tang.
His personal name was Li Shimin (李世民）

With regards,
I.Nagy

The seal reads

長安市隱李月溪手搨金石章

The attached link will tell you more about these rubbings. They are not prints in the usual meaning of the word, but are produced by an entirely different process.

Another web site refers to the involvement of You YouRen as a calligrapher on these rubbings.

I did not see a link?
Thank you for the information.
If you have a link with more information, please let me know.d

My college also has a rubbing of Baitiwu, but no provenance information on it. Before we displayed it this past semester, it had been rolled up in a corner, sitting for who knows how long. I am trying to track down other rubbings in an attempt to build a rough picture of where ours came from (hence I stumbled upon your post). Would you be willing to send me a little information on how you acquired your two rubbings and any provenance they have?

I have an exact copy of this chinese stone rubbing. It was obtained by my Chinese Aunt for my mother (her sister-in-law) in the late 1950's or 1960's. I know my aunt had to smuggle it out of China. I arrived folded up. My mother had it framed and it now hangs in my home. Here are the notes my mother left me about it. "The rubbings are from the six bas-reliefs adorning the entrance to the tomb of Emperor T'ang T'ai-T'sung mountains of Shensi Province in China. They depict the Emperor's favorite horses and the ones with arrows in them were the ones wounded in the battlefield when the Emperor rode them to war. The original paintings from which the bas-reliefs were developed were made by Yen Li-Pen about 637 A.D. when Emperor Tai-T'sung was at the height of his glory. Later, during the Sung Dynasty (960 to 1279 A.D.), Yen's Paintings inspired master carvers to execute cameo-like copies in bas-relief on stone slabs, each approximately 65 inches wide and 53 inches high. The artist, Yen is known to have excellently depicted the details of the war horses of that perior, i.e. the T'ang Dynasty, and they are know as the "T'ang horses".

You may know this already, but two of the carvings from which these reproductions were made are in the Pennsylvania Museum of Art. The following webpage contains links to the "rubbings" also, indicating that their version of this one dates to the early 20th century and is not strictly speaking a rubbing: https://www.penn.museum/collections/highlights/asian/taizonghorses.php

How was it framed? I have a rubbing as well, but I have stumped my local framer. Any suggestions?

The link didn't post, so here it is

https://library.wustl.edu/units/ea/spec_col/taizong-horses/

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