The Tianlai Pavilion of the Xiang family at Jiaxing was among the largest private collections of its day. Xiang asked painters to work in the manner of the ancients for him, had them dedicate the sheet to himself, and stamped his seal at the corners of the picture and on the mounting.
Such works hold an odd place in the market: they are a painting and a piece of collecting history at once. Whoever buys one also buys the story of the seal.
