QI BAISHI (1864-1957)

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

A Chinese painting, ink and colour on paper, inscribed and signed Jie Shan Yin Guan zhu zhe zhi, with one artist's seal reading Bai Shi Weng, framed and glazed, with a frame maker's paper label to the reverse, 92cm x 33.5cm.

Provenance: formerly from a French deceased estate.

Chinese lily bulbs, known as baihe in Chinese, are white skinless ball-shaped roots which contain starchy scale-like sections. They have a slightly perfumed smell, crunchy texture and a sweet taste. There is a homophone of baihe which has the meaning of 'hundreds of years together'. With two little bumblebees, as in this painting, it symbolises 'may you have a wonderful married life for hundreds of years'.