Republican-China Fan with Oxen Painting by He Tianjian and Calligraphy by Dong Zuobin Picture 1

This is a paper folding fan with 16 plain unadorned bamboo ribs. The paper fan panel features an oxen painting in color by He Tianjian (1891-1977 AD) on one side with an inscription
Coupled with a square seal of “Tianjian’s Seal” and a piece of seal script calligraphy on the other with an inscription “For Mr. Shangde: I derive pleasure from the all-day-long sedentary work of drawing and painting. Please forgive me if this piece is not exquisite as it’s the pleasure I care about in painting, not the rules or customs the predecessors valued. By He Tianjian, in early summer of 1944”, together with the two square seals of “Dong Zuobin” and “Yantang”.
He Tianjian, alias Jiansou in his twilight years, a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu province who was adept at landscape painting and poetry. He served many posts including director of China Artists Association, vice principal of Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, member of Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History, member of Xiling Seal Art Society.
Dong Zuobin, alias Zuoren and Yantang, was a native of Nanyang, Henan province, who presided over the excavation of Yinxu, and is reputed as one of the “Four Tangs of Oracle-bone Inscriptions” together with Luo Zhenyu, Guo Moruo and Wang Guowei, given his systematic study on this ancient Chinese script.