Album of Calligraphies and Paintings

This board-bound, accordion-fold Chinese album consists of 26 pages. Each opening presents painted images of birds, flowers, and landscapes on the right side and calligraphies on the left side. The cover is adorned with silk brocade. Each page is bordered with silk brocade displaying a faint Chinese cloud pattern. Centered on each page, the paintings and calligraphies are executed on silk. The calligraphies are on silk mounted over reddish paper with scattered gold-leaf accents. The 1st, 2nd, 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th calligraphies are signed and sealed by Qian Weicheng (1720–1772), while the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 12th calligraphies are signed and sealed by Yu Minzhong (1714–1779). The 7th calligraphy is unsigned, but based on its style appears to be by Qian Weicheng. The paintings are mounted over white paper. None is signed, nor do any carry seals of an artist. The subjects of the paintings are (1) Cranes with a Tree and Rocks, (2) Pines, Bamboo, and Rocks, (3) Peonies, (4) Day Lily, (5) Old Pine and Bird, (6) Two Magpies in a Tree, (7) Narcissus, (8) Roses and Bamboo, (9) Two Birds and Flowering Plum Branch, (10) Lingzhi Fungus, (11) Peaches, (12) Citron Fruits.