A LARGE PAINTING DEPICTING SHOULAO AND AN ATTENDANT, BY GU JIANLONG (1606-1687), DATED 1679China. Ink and watercolors on paper. Depicting Shoulao holding a lingzhi fungus in his right hand, his face with a cheerful expression, dressed in fine robes with a floral hem, a jade pendant in the form of a ruyi cloud tied to his waist, followed by his attendant carrying his master’s cane with attached gourd, the attendant also dressed in fine robes embellished with medallions of scrolling clouds, both standing in a rocky landscape below a gnarled pine tree backed by clouds, with rockwork issuing lingzhi in the foreground.Inscriptions: Upper left, inscribed ‘The magical fungus of immortality’, ‘Painted in the autumn of the Year of Ji Wei (corresponding to 1679) in the manner of Tang Ziwei (also known as Tang Yin, 1470-1523)’, ‘Painted in the Studying Straw Hall of Deep Willow’, and signed ‘Yun Chen Gu Jianlong’. Two seals, ‘Gu Jianlong Yin’ and ‘Yun Chen’.Provenance: From the collection of James Kedzie Penfield, and thence by descent in the same family. James Kedzie Penfield (1908-2004), after graduating from Stanford, joined a hand-picked team who traveled to China to work for the American Diplomatic Corps during the 1930s and 1940, where, according to his daughter, he spent the best years of his life. During his stay, he established friends with local artists, including Zhang Daqian, one of the most famous Chinese painters of the 20th century, and was gifted a painting by him as a farewell present, which was sold at Woolley & Wallis on 1 July 2020, lot 15, for GBP 50,000. In 1954, James Penfield became the Highmissioner for Austria and was sent there to re-establish a neutral and democratic country.Condition: The painting with extensive wear, tears, creasing, losses, touch-, soiling, and stains, but overall displaying remarkably well despite obvious signs of age. Mounted and stabilized behind a solid wood frame with glass. The frame with few small nicks and light scratches.Dimensions: Image size 226 x 107 cm, Size incl. fame 239.5 x 119.5 cmGu Jianlong (1606-1687) was born in Suzhou Taichang and served at the Qing court as a painter during the 1660s and 1670s, where he painted portraits of the Emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi as well as of the Imperial family.Literatureparison:Compare a related silk scroll painting by Gu Jianlong, in the British Museum, registration number 1910,0212,0.486.pare also a related portrait of Ma Shiqi (1650-1714), illustrated in Wai-Kam Ho, et al., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and The Cleveland Museum of Art, p. 347-348, no. 255.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2021, lot 852Price: USD 50,000 or approx.EUR 53,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: With signature of