A Chinese Famille Rose Porcelain Plaque of Fu Sheng Teaching the Classics

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

Dated 1959, porcelain finely painted in famille rose enamels with a tranquil garden scene depicting of Fu Sheng teaching, two scholars seated at a low table beneath a spreading pine tree, accompanied by an elegantly dressed female attendant, an inscription in Chinese calligraphy appears in the upper right identifying the scene and date, accompanied by a red artist seal mark, presented in a later hardwood frame.

Frame dimensions 11 x 16 x 1 3/4 in.

From the Collection of Adrienne and John C. Maxwell, Jr. John C. Maxwell Jr. assembled one of the most distinguished private collections of Asian art in the American South, with a particular focus on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese works spanning antiquity through the late imperial period. A financier and respected market analyst by profession, Maxwell developed his interest in Asian art during his military service in Korea in the early 1950s. What began as personal study evolved into a lifelong commitment to collecting, scholarship, and connoisseurship.

The collection formed by Maxwell and his wife Adrienne reflects Maxwell’s highly analytical eye and preference for works possessing strong historical character, refined craftsmanship, and clear cultural significance. Numerous objects from the collection together with their private library of 1,200 scholarly Asian art journals and books were gifted to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where they became part of the museum’s Maxwell East Asian Collection.

The artist was working at Zhushan (Jingdezhen, the historic porcelain capital), and created this painting in the artistic style of Tang Yin (1470–1524), a famous Ming dynasty painter and poet.

Very good condition; not examined outside of the frame.