A Chinese Handscroll, Auspicious Snow at the Beginning of the New Year, Bearing a Signature of Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining), with an Apocryphal Qianlong Frontispiece Inscription, Probably Late Qing Dynasty.

Painting: {H 26 inches x L 92 inches}.

Wrapper: Inscribed “Imperially Composed Picture of Auspicious Snow at the Beginning of the New Year”; yellow textile embroidered with a dragon roundel.

The silk mounting is decorated with plum blossom and bamboo motifs.

Frontispiece: Inscribed “Snowfall on New Year’s Morning,” with an apocryphal seal reading “Treasure of the Ancient Man of Ten Perfections.” Painted on waxed paper. The inscription at the lower left reads: “Respectfully made by your servant Lianxiu of the Jiangnan Imperial Weaving Bureau.”

At the right side of the painting, the Qianlong Emperor is shown looking forward, accompanied by children setting off firecrackers. Farther to the left, figures are constructing a bear-shaped snow sculpture.

The left side bears an apocryphal seal reading “Treasure of the Yuanmingyuan.” The inscription at the lower left reads: “The Westerner, your servant Lang Shining, respectfully painted,” followed by two seals reading “Shi” and “Ning.” A further inscription reads: “Your servants Zhou Kun and Shen Yuan jointly completed the landscape,” followed by seals reading “Chen,” “Kun,” and “Respectfully Painted in Collaboration.”

The handscroll is followed by a Manchu inscription, Hongzhou’s transcription of the imperial composition Verses for the Division of the Year, and Yu Minzhong’s transcription of the imperial regulated verse Snow Scene.

郎世宁款《岁朝瑞雪图》绢本长卷，卷首带乾隆御题款，或晚清。

画心尺寸：长92英寸 × 高26英寸。

包首：题“御制岁朝瑞雪图”，黄布，绣团龙纹。

裱绫饰梅竹图案。

引首：蜡笺纸本手绘，题“岁朝霏雪”，钤托名“十全老人之宝”印。左下方题：“江南织造，奴才联秀恭制。”

画面右侧绘乾隆皇帝向前观看，左右有孩童燃放爆竹；画面更左侧绘人物正在堆塑一只熊形雪兽。

画面左侧钤托名“圆明园之宝”印。左下方题：“海西臣郎世宁恭写”，钤“世”“宁”二印。另题：“臣周鲲、臣沈源合笔补景”，钤“臣”“鲲”及“合笔恭绘”印。

卷后带满文题记、弘昼书“御制分岁词”，以及于敏中书“御制雪景一律”。

For condition report and additional photos, please contact the Asian Art Department.