Sun Yirang (Chinese, 1848-1908)Calligraphy, 1893Fan leaf, ink on paper with gold leaf9 x 18-3/4 inches (22.9 x 47.6 cm) (work) 14-1/8 x 24-3/8 inches (35.9 x 61.9 cm) (frame)Signed, with a dedicationTHE CHENN FAMILY COLLECTION OF CHINESE PAINTING AND CALLIGRAPHYPROVENANCE: Chen Guoxiang (1879-1919); Chen Guan (1895-1990) and Zheng Ying (1898-1990), by descent from the above; Chenn Family, by descent from the above. The fan leaf, with calligraphy about a poem written by Sun Yirang, a 19th-century philologist and linguist. Sun was inspired by a jade seal of Yue Fei (1103-1142) which was lost for ages and purchased later in 1891 by Yang Zhihong from Mengzi, Yunnan, and hence wrote the poem.In the poem Sun praises the quality of the jade which is as smooth as a small chunk of goose fat with scarlet inclusions, and smells heavenly when rubbing. He then narrates that when Yue Fei won the battle against the Jin troops in northern China, his poems were printed again and again. During the past thousands of years the Yue family's Jin Tuo Hall has undergone a complete transformation. Many treasures were lost. The seal was no exception. Yet it was rediscovered and still well preserved without even damage on it corners.