SUITE OF TWO MINIATURE GOAUCHE PAINTINGS ON PITH PAPER OF A CHINESE MANDARIN COU

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[Canton ? 1800-1820, Lam-Qua?]. Framed & glazed, gold mat, a pair of hand-painted "Pith" paintings 5.7 x 9.5 cm. matted size, very clean, bright, excellent examples. ORIGINAL HAND-PAINT IN FULL COLOR. R A R E ! *** *** *** . . . A RARE PAIR OF 'PITH' PAINTINGS . . . IN EXCELLENT CONDITION . . * A pair of lovely and delicately color painted Chinese couple. The woman [on the left] wears a long ping silk gown, with emerald green under skirt. She hold a silk fan with a painted flower in her left hand and in her right a silken cloth. She wears jade earring and has a flower in her hair. She wears white shoes with orange tops. The man, clearly a Mandarin, wears a purple robe with his "Mandarin Square" silk embroidered rank on his chest. His undergarment is the typical Imperial green, red and yellow colors. He wear the typical Mandarin's hat of red and pink with a green feather. His shoes are the typical black cloth top, with white felt soles. The both look at each other. A typical Mandarin scene. . *** LAM-QUA & TING-QUA SCHOOLS: The works are done in the Canton style of Lam-Qua and his brother, Ting-qua. See item #2 below for a link. . Ting-qua born ca. 1809; flourished 1840-70. He was the brother of Lam-Qua [1801-1860] and probably a close relation of Spoilum. Ting-qua's studio at 16 China Street, Guangzhou, was perhaps the most prolific source of Chinese export paintings of its time. Working in a manner influenced by Western artistic traditions, Ting-qua and the painters of his studio restricted themselves to gouache and water-colors, perhaps to avoid rivalry with Lam-qua's oil paintings. Their pictures, which were often sold in sets." Quoted from item #2 below. . *** PITH PAPER: The paintings were done on pith paper. "Pith paper or rice paper, a misnomer as it is sometimes known, is made from the inner pith of the plant Tetrapanex papyrifera, which is a member of the Araliaceae family. The plant is a shrub native to Southern China and Taiwan. As well as a painting material, pith paper was used to make artificial flowers and surgical dressings." Cited from item #1 below. . *** THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF CHINA IN EARLY 19TH CENTURY: Justice was swift and usually done to make an example of the accused. If the accused pleaded guilty and confessed, his punishment was lessoned. If he persisted in innocence, even though he was not guilty, his punishment was more severe. Showing a cooperative attitude was of advantage. Nearly all people accused of a crime were assumed to be guilty. The punishment for various crimes were commonly known, and justice was meted out by the magistrate. . *** RARITY: Gouache pith paintings are now rare, most were damaged, cracked and brittle, rendering them useless. The few that survived are considered RARE and uncommon. The paintings were drawn with much skill and patience, and were for the most part drawn for and sold to foreigners in the treaty ports of China in the early 19th century. Drawn with a fine brush in vivid colors, the paintings depicted things that would fascinate foreigners, and encourage them to bring home as souvenirs. The current examples often caught the eye of foreigners who may have actually seen some form of public punishment or execution. . *** CONDITION: The work is remarkable clean and solid. There are no damage to the paintings visible from the glazed side the back has not been opened, but the images look very clean, solid with none of the usual cracking or other damage often found on these kinds of early paintings. The frame is clean, solid and ready for library or display. . *** THE FRAMING AND MOUNTING: The pair of painting have been western-style gold-matted, framed in brown wood and glazed. The over all size of the frame is 25.5 x 17.5 cm. The verso or back has brown paper glued to all edges and two tiny holes in the back where eyelets were probably screwed in to hold the hanging wire [not present]. . *** REFERENCES: . ease see this site for copious details on pith plant, and its uses. Seller Inventory # 34040601

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