Set of Twelve Chinese Pith Paper Paintings of Court Scenes

18289: Set of Twelve Chinese Pith Paper Paintings of Court Scenes
Chinese, 19th Century
Height: 37.5cm, width: 47.5cm, depth: 2cm
This set of twelve Chinese paintings dates from the 19th Century. Each is painted on pith paper, sometimes called rice paper, a material with low absorbency that allows the pigment to sit on the surface and gives the scenes their strong, saturated colour. Such paintings were sought after by European travellers of the period, who acquired them as souvenirs of Chinese culture.
Each painting depicts a male or female elder seated on an ornately framed chair beside a table dressed with flowering vases, books or fruit, surrounded by attendant figures who stand in waiting, present offerings, carry trays and fans, or converse. The scenes are set within interiors, the figures placed on repeating floral and geometric "cash"-pattern carpets rendered in detail. The most elaborate composition shows a seated couple beneath a canopy, attended by a large retinue of musicians and courtiers, offering a grander variation on the other scenes, while several compositions are bordered with dragon-and-cloud friezes.
The figures are dressed in patterned robes worked in cobalt blue, coral, green and gilt, the dragon-and-phoenix roundels and embroidered borders picked out throughout. The scenes are later set within glazed giltwood frames with maroon mounts, each painting individually enclosed.
The set belongs to the tradition of Chinese export painting produced for the Western market in the 19th Century, in which pith paper was used for its capacity to hold bright, unabsorbed pigment. The repeated court and domestic compositions, the "cash"-pattern carpets and the dragon-and-phoenix ornament follow the conventions of that trade.
$22,500