An Exquisite and Important Pair of Chinese Paintings on Silk of a Dutch Couple, c. 1760

Inventory Number: : 180-110

Price: SOLD

12 ½ ins. high and 10 ins. wide

DESCRIPTION

From the renowned Mottahedeh Collection these illustrations came from two eighteenth century volumes depicting Westerners and Chinese provincial traders and artisans. Probably commissioned by a wealthy and powerful Chinese merchant in Canton to record the vast diversity of the population these pieces are unique in having applied captions describing the people and commenting on their appearance and habits.

The captions can be translated as follows;

Dutch Male:

“This man is a Hollander. He wears a black felt hat. When he sees a friend he takes it off. This shows his politeness. He wears a short jacket and leather shoes and holds a stick along with a sword. After about six months he will leave Kuangtung Provence (Canton) by water. He usually comes to trade in Autumn and returns to his country in winter.”

Dutch Female:

“This lady from Holland wears a blue scarf over her hair. Around her neck she wears a necklace made of precious stones, nothing to cover her chest. A long skirt is attached to her dress and a long shawl is thrown over her shoulder. She wear red leather shoes.”

Gouache on silk

Canton, China. C. 1760

Illustrated:
Both pictured in China for the West, vol. I, p. 31 by David Howard and John Ayers, Sotheby Parke Bernet, London and New York, 1978.

Provenance:
Mottahedeh Collection
With Martyn Gregory, London, probably by mid 1980s
Private collection, New York by late 1980s.