Roses

Inscription by the artist (upper right): After brushwork by Baiyun Waishi [Yun Shouping, 1633–1690], for the refined judgment of the revered Mr. Bocheng, Jipei. Wu Zuzhi in the year wuzi [1948].

Other inscriptions: (next to the artist's:) Bless San Francisco and its citizens with prosperity and happy life. Fang Zhufu from Hong Kong, Jan. 1977.
(upper left:) As a present from Fang Shufu.
(lower right:) To the viewer good luck like the flower, long life and good health. Yun-wah studying calligraphy, January 1977.

A large variety of roses are found in China, which is also a source for many modern hybrid roses grown abroad. Yet the rose has not been a popular flower in Chinese painting. This work was completed by an unrecorded artist named Wu Zuzhi in 1948. Yun Shouping, after whose style Wu based this work, was perhaps the best-known painter of flowers of the early Qing dynasty (1644–1911).