The Pine Crane Longevity

Meng Yixian placed the two boxes on the table, and Zhu Dafu immediately asked, "Little Meng, what good things are these?"

Meng Yixian replied with a smile, "Xu Beihong's Pine Crane Longevity painting, and a Ming-dynasty Jingtai-period copper-bodied cloisonné enamel tripod plate decorated with pine and cranes."

"What?! A work by Xu Beihong?"

Xu Beihong, who was known alongside Zhang Shuqi and Liu Zigu as the "Three Heroes of Jinling" in the art world, needed no introduction when it came to his fame in China.

Only around three thousand of Xu Beihong's works had survived. The small number was partly because he had died young, and partly because he had lived through mostly wartime years, leaving him little time to paint in peace.

According to family records and research, the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall housed more than twelve hundred of Xu Beihong's works. Apart from a few treasured pieces, there were probably only a few hundred authentic works circulating among the public.

Therefore, when everyone heard that it was a work by Xu Beihong, they were all somewhat pleasantly surprised. Qiao Qingtai was even more eager for Meng Yixian to take out the painting.

The painting was not large, only a little over two square chi. But it was, after all, a work by Xu Beihong. If it were larger, it would not have been worth only two or three hundred thousand yuan.

"Pine Crane Longevity" was a traditional birthday-blessing theme. There were not many such works among Xu Beihong's paintings, and the form of the crane in this piece also originated from traditional painting.

In the painting, a crane stood on one leg atop a pine branch, turning its body to look back into the distance.

The crane's form had been outlined with lines, its feathers depicted in ink.