"Kongming, like a fish in water," China, early... Lot 3

"Kongming, like a fish in water," China, early 19th century Folded fan, the painted silk sheet of a man, Kong Ming, leaning over a pond to observe fish. Behind him, a figure looks up at him from a pavilion. The subject refers to the "Three Kingdoms" period. It evokes the thinking of the prime minister Kong Ming (Zhuge Liang ??) to stabilize the kingdom after the fall of the Hans dynasty. Liu Bei, Emperor of the kingdom of Shu, had said of him: "When I am with Kongming I am like a fish in water". On the reverse, on a gilded background, a long calligraphic text evoking the city of Sichuan, based on the work of Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher of the 4th century. Natural wood mounting. The round head decorated with an engraved ivory plate*, enhanced by an engraved white mother-of-pearl plate. The plumes engraved with plum tree flowers. H.t. 30,3 cm-H.f. 17,3 cm (stains, cuts, small accidents, missing)