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Chinese Reverse Glass Portrait of a Young Woman

1900

This intricately detailed composition is a late-Qing dynasty ancestor portrait depicting several generations of a family's male ancestry. Or...

Believing that the departed continue to hold influence over the lives of the living, many Chinese households honor their ancestors in private family rituals, invoking their spirits for long life, health, and prosperity. Commemorative portraits, which came into vogue in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, were commissioned specifically for ancestor worship and were believed to house the spirits of the deceased. When properly cared for, one's ancestors were believed to be a powerful source of honor, protection, and good luck. This pair of ancestor portraits was hand-painted in the 19th century and beautifully depicts a Qing-dynasty couple. While some ancestral portraits offer a more stylized representation of one's ancestors, this particular pair is painted with incredible realism and life-like expressions. Rather than depict the pair in a regal hall wearing elaborate finery, the couple is shown in a quiet home environment, seated at either end of a square tea table. Their surroundings are minimal, practically undecorated, and they wear simple, matching blue silk robes...

Chinese New Year paintings (nian hua) are colorful folk paintings created to celebrate the annual Spring Festival. Drawn or printed by folk artists in regional studios, nian hua paintings featured exaggerated characters with bright and contrasting colors. Put up around the home to beckon luck and happiness in the coming year, most paintings depicted mythical guardians, scenes from folk operas, or auspicious symbols of good luck. This New Year painting depicts a young woman holding a vase filled with peony blossoms. This combination of motifs is a visual idiom for "may you have peace and prosperity" (ping'an fu gui). The early 20th century painting is from the town of Yangliuqing, one of the leading producers of traditional New Year's paintings known for its combination of woodblock printing...

Since the 12th century, people in China have used folding screens and doors to partition and decorate their homes - the vivid scenes backing the screens added life and color to a room. This 19th-century painting is delicately brushed of gouache and ink on fabric and was originally part of a set of eight backing a wooden screen in northern China. The figure depicted is one of the mythical Eight Immortals of Taoism. Said to have attained immortality through their studies of the natural world, each of the Eight Immortals represents a different condition in life and together they impart a blessing of prosperity and longevity. Depicted here is immortal Lan Caihe, the patron saint of florists and gardeners. Standing atop a lotus leaf in open water, they hold a gardening hoe in one hand and a basket for flowers...

Chinese Ancestral Portrait of Enthroned Noblewoman, Gouache on Linen Mounted on Paper, circa 1900, depicting crowned and dressed female ancestor in ...

A wonderful and rare circa 1830 Chinese export reverse glass portrait painting of unusually large size of a lady in traditional robes holding a closed fan shown sat in front of black...

A wonderful and extremely rare last quarter 19th century Chinese export for the Anglo-Indian market reverse glass portrait painting of an opium-smoking maiden or young lady painted i...

This Chinese portrait depicts a young woman and was painted using a reverse glass painting technique. Painting in reverse on the opposite side of a piece of glass meant the painter h...