Figures in Landscape

This fan is typical of the type of small gifts given by the Qing emperors to favoured aristocrats and high officials.

The painting is by Jiao Bingzhen, not only a court artist (active 1689-1726), but also a valued mathematician known to have collaborated with Giuseppe Castiglione, the Itlaian Jesuit artist. The calligraphy on the fan is made by an important civil servant, Fang Guangcheng, and the inscriptions on the wooden guards are also made by other important officials.

This fan was once in the possession of the Qing statesman Li Hongzhang.