Chinese characters on painting

[lonny tao]

Today I buy me this Chinese painting.

There are a lot of Chinese characters on it.

I can read a few words but thats it.

Maybe someone can help me to translate.

Also the price was on it behind the painting.

Maybe someone can read that also and tell me what the price was?

Lonny

[Caster]

1st pic:

寿献瑶台

it's about a Chinese tale. it's you know well about the transitional tale in chinese, you may know it.

there is a queen over the cloud, very famous, but i just can't tell her name in english, maybe you can ask others. there is kind of peach which can make people who ate it live long(nearly forever), 瑶is from the word 瑶池 which means jade pond. the sentence means that give the long-live peach to the queen over the table on the jade pond. it's all about the tale, gods and demigods, just go to learn some about it, cuz it's really hard to tell clearly.

2nd pic:

just some chinese names

3rd pic:

Mingzhu Resteraunt xxx（a chinese name）

4th pic:

the price is not the price, i can't see it clearly, the characters may be 荷兰(holland). and i can make sure that they are not numbers.

[jbradfor]

there is a queen over the cloud, very famous, but i just can't tell her name in english

西王母? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Wangmu

I thought the peach tree that granted immortality was in a different story, in the Jade Emperor's garden and looked over (and eaten) by 孫悟空?

[Caster]

in fact 西王母 is a very famous god that first appeared in 《山海经》，maybe in Zhou Dinasty or even ealier. But in 《西游记》as you know we call that queen"王母娘娘"，she has changed a lot from 西王母，because the original 西王母 is mostly like a monster with tail and long teeth. but right now the current one "王母娘娘" is just a woman.

and the tale about peach tree is surely concerned with 孙悟空, if you know that, everything is going to be easy.

[lonny tao]

Thanks everybody for these answers, I am verry happy with this information.

I was thinking that picture nr. 1 the name was of the man that had make this painting.

But I understand it is not.

What means the red stamp? is that a name?

And the writing behind the the price, I know that they are not numbers but the name holland?

Maybe It looks like but the name holland on this painting doesn`t make any sence to me.

I think holland is this in Chinese characters:

[dwq]

The picture is probably a mass-produced piece, bought by the 3 people in the 2nd picture and sent to the restaurant 明珠大酒樓 as a gift to celebrate (仝(the 3 people together) 賀(celebrate)) the happy event of its expansion (擴張之喜). The characters in the 2nd and 3rd pictures are added to that effect after purchase. You should probably erase them when you display it as they are not really relevent and gives people the idea that you got it from a fire sale

It may depend on the region, but I don't think it is customary to let the recipient know the price of gifts in general (at least, one would not shove it in their face by labelling it on the gift itself). And so it probably wasn't the price in the last picture, just some note the shop wrote, I'd guess.

[lonny tao]

I payed 35 euro for this picture, I tried to give a price under 35 euro but that was not possible.

Mostly they ask here much more so I think 35 euro is a good price.

I think also myself that this is a mass-produced picture but I like it, I like the material that was used.

Don`t know the name of that material but that is used a lot in Chinese pictures.

I like there is a story with this picture, three people bought this en give it to a restaurant.

So I leave the red characters on the picture.

Because my English is not so good, I don`t know what you mean with the event of its expansion.

What does expansion men?

Lonny