61. JIANG TINGXI (1669–1732) Manuel Impérial des Oiseaux, Niao Pu Cacatoès à Huppe Rose JIANG TINGXI (1669-1732) An Imperial Manual of Birds, Niao Pu Salmon-crested Cockatoo Ink and colour on silk, album leaf and calligraphy, framed and under glass, title slip reading 'ya se ding hua xiao bai yingwu, with two seals of the artist reading chen Tingxi and chaochao ran han. 40.5 x 41cm (16in x 16 1/8in) 蔣廷錫（1669-1732）鳥譜 牙色頂花小白鸚鵡 設色绢本 鏡框 鈐印：臣廷錫、朝朝染翰 題跋：小白鸚鵡又一種。大小毛色相同。惟頂毛作牙紅色。通身裡毛亦帶牙紅。粉白足爪。二種皆小於大者。尾亦齊闊。唐書南蠻傳云。訶陵有二屬國曰曇陵陀洹。貞觀時並遣使入朝獻白鸚鵡。首有十二紅毛。 Provenance: According to family history, acquired in China in the late 19th century, inherited by the father of present owners and thence by descent in the family 來源： 據家族記載，此拍品於十九世紀末得自中國，由現藏家之父繼承，後經家族流傳至今 This album leaf and the accompanying textual description, as well as the following lot 62, represent two leaves from the Manual of Birds (niaopu), a comprehensive and important encyclopedia of bird species produced for the eighteenth-century Chinese court. The Manual of Birds was a large-size comprehensive compendium comprising pictorial representations of 360 birds, each image accompanied by a title slip designating the bird illustrated and paired with a textual description written in regular script (kaishu), such as exemplified in this lot and the next lot. The album which disappeared at the end of the Qing dynasty, was notable for its ambitious size, meticulously accurate illustrations, and long texts that combine historical references with rigorous mensuration and details gained from close observation. The album was painted by Jiang Tingxi 蔣廷錫 (1669-1732) for the Kangxi emperor in around 1721/1722. The Qianlong Emperor's catalogue of art in the imperial collection, the Precious Records of the Stone Moat (石渠寶笈, Shiqubaoji), first records the Manual of Birds and lists that a total of 360 birds illustrations were paired with descriptive texts by the scholar Wang Tubing 王圖炳 (1668-1743), a poet and artist who specialised in representations of the natural world. Because of the unusually large format of each leaf and comprehensive nature of the work, it was organised into twelve separate albums each comprising thirty birds, each image carefully numbered in black ink on the back of the mount, corresponding with the album and leaf numbers. As demonstrated on this image of a cockatoo, great attention was given to representing the distinctive physiognomy of each bird and the accurate coloration of its coat of feathers. A text cartouche to the right of the painting reveals the name of the bird, in this case a red or salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis) (yase dinghua xiao bai yingshi 牙色頂花小白鸚鵡), realistically depicted with its textured white coat of feathers and distinctive salmon-coloured crest, prominent black bill and sturdy feet. The cockatoo is perched on a flowering branch, precariously leaning forward while looking directly at and engaging the viewer with a lively black eye, the bill ever so slightly open. During the Tang dynasty, exotic parakeets, lories, and cockatoos arrived at the Chinese court as tributes and gifts, and became popular at court where they were kept in aviaries and gardens. In 1751, a copy of the Niao Pu was commissioned by the Qianlong emperor. Executed by Zhang Weibang 張維邦 (ca. 1725-1775) and Yu Sheng 余省 (1692-1767), it is a direct or close copy or facsimile (摹本, moben) of the original album and today is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. The corresponding illustration of the salmon-crested cockatoo can be found in album two, accession number 故畫003600N000000017 (Fig. 1). Very few leaves from the Niao Pu have come to the market. More recently, five leaves depicting various birds including a phoenix, the first leaf of the album bearing seven Imperial seals of the Qianlong emperor, was sold in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 6 April 2023, lot 2575.