‘Portrait of an Oriental Merchant’ ‘Hunzicker’, Swiss Painter, circa 1880

Joseph Pierre Hilarion Castanié (1819-1884). Portrait of a nun (Carmelite). Oil on canvas, signed upper left Castanié. Superbly executed. In a beautiful frame from the first half o...

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 late-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. Two young children stand beside them, each trying to capture the attention of their grandparent. We love the painting's close attention to detail and the glimpse it offers of Qing-dynasty interiors - from the carved apron of the marble-top table to the red silk lotus slippers...

Oriental painter oil painting O. Birkholz Oil on canvas. Bordered frame. View of a river landscape under palm trees. Signed O. birchwood. (S-207).

Marked on the verso. Size of plaque 12 X 15.

A 'grand tour' watercolor painting on woven paper of an Italian coastal scene with village, boat, and washer-women on shore housed in a giltwood frame with...

Oriental painter oil painting, signed O. Birkholz Oil on canvas. Bordered frame. View of a river landscape under palm trees. Signed O. birch wood. (S-208).