Expert: John J - 9/23/2009

Question
QUESTION:
I am very sorry for my failed attachments. Trying this one more time. This link should take you there. Again I am sorry. I do not get along with computers. http://www.xoopit.com/s/20zft17mqvdd63y5owq8

ANSWER: Yea, the link works this time. the characters are in the font of "xiaozhuan"(FYI:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaozhuan), an ancient font of Chinese, which I don't really know how to read. Nowadays, artists tend to create their own variants of "xiaozhuan", which makes it harder to read. my best guess for now is that the seal you attached reads:"Song Shan"(Pine Mountain). I'll ask around and stop by a book store if possible and get back to you then.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:
Dear Sir,

First of all thank you very much. I don't know if it will help, but I wanted to provide a link to a picture of the painting. The painting seams to be very old. Can you tell me any more information about the artist? Again, thank you. No one has been able to provide any information in the past. You rate a perfect 10 with me. Thank you.

http://www.xoopit.com/s/20zft17mqvdd6iw3xtrl


Cindy

Answer
Hi Cindy,

Thank you for your good words.

I showed the characters to different persons, and one of them told me that they are "Pine Ridge". I did my own homework too. I went to the book store and looked up in the dictionary of ancient Chinese and I concluded that "Ridge" seems more true than "Mountain".

Sorry that I don't have any info about the painting itself, but I'll let you know as soon as I have any in the future.

Thank you again for your patience and trust.

Peace!

John