label reads: "Wading Birds / From a series of original bird and flower paintings by Yu Tseng-san, 1722-1736 / Of the time of the 2nd Manchu emperor, Yung Ching [Yongzheng] / Purchased in China 1875", probably after Jiang Tingxi's (1669-1732) An Imperial Manual of Birds, each titled in Chinese on applied paper tab at upper right corner, depicting a heron and a waterhen, ink and watercolor on paper, each sight 20-5/8 x 14-3/4 in.; carved and painted wood frames (one intact), 29-1/4 x 23 x 1/2 in.

Provenance: By descent in family; Private Collection, Flat Rock, North Carolina

Note: Per the consignor these have been in his family since they were purchased in China in 1875 by a member of the San Francisco Gibbs family … George K. (Kane) Gibbs. This branch came directly out of the earlier Gibbs & Channing line of Newport, Rhode Island, an early American mercantile family active in the China Trade and connected by marriage to the Kane. Biddle and Leiper families of Philadelphia. “Kane” appears as a Gibbs middle name in the early 1800s, and the extended family network includes Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the well-known Arctic explorer and a great great uncle within the same connected Gibbs-Kane family network.

The San Francisco Gibbs family played a major role in early California industry, including the development of what became Pacific Steel, which maintained commercial ties with China. These two works have remained in the family since 1875 and are no being seen for the first time by the public.

For similar examples, see Rosebery's, London, May 13, 2025, Lot 62.