Page 53 - Bloch-4

kuimao,' with two seals of the artist, one, Erzhong, in negative seal script following the inscription, the other, Ding, in negative regular script in the lower right-hand corner, the other main side with a galloping equestrian hunter, in a mountainous landscape, about to shoot an arrow from his bow at a fleeing deer, entitled in clerical script 'Returning Home in Triumph after Obtaining Emolument,' with one seal of the artist, Erzhong, in negative seal script

Since the previous bottle (no. 557) from 1902, and the next, no. 559, were painted in Nanjing, we can reasonably assign this one to that same city. Since Ding apparently moved from Beijing to Nanjing during the year 1900 (see under the last entry, no. 557), we will assume that later examples are also from there. The type of glass bottle is certainly an indication of a new source. The last example and this are both chubby and more crudely made than the Beijing standard, and the detailing of the foot in each case is similarly careless and lazy and may represent a new glass-manufacturer, probably local to Nanjing, learning the ropes. By the winter of the year he seems to have classed up his act considerably, since the next bottle, while of the same generous form, is much better detailed.

The subject here of the Manchu hunter first appeared on no. 543, in 1896, and in comparing the two, Kleiner pointed to the improvement in composition, which he found much stronger, and the landscape, which he found more varied. Again, we beg to differ.