Title Information
Title
Chinese general and attendant, c. 1810
Origin Information
Date Created
1810
Physical Description
Extent
1 gouache; 33.4 x 46.5 cm.
Abstract
1st in pair of original unsigned gouache drawings; general holding spear seated outside tent with shield and standard-banner on tent pole, standard-bearer standing at left with command-flag. [See also: Chinese general's wife and attendant, c. 1810.] From the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, China traded major luxury commodities, including tea, porcelain, and silk, to European and American merchants. Unexpectedly, such transactions also gave rise to an ancillary market for export paintings. A successful community of painters emerged to meet foreign demand, embedded in the space of trade, where transnational and transcultural exchanges proliferated. In particular, artists’ studios thrived in Canton, primarily located in Old and New (after 1822) China Street in the neighborhood of the foreign factories. In anticipation of the wide reception of their works, export painters provided insights into Chinese traditions, fashion, customs, and daily life. Though originally sold as single folios, as with this pair, travelers often bound their paintings in albums either in China or, more often, back home. Many instances feature coordinated pairs of character studies, usually an official or high-ranking officer with their spouse, whose status was discernible by their dress, badges, and banners.
Note
Upright folio; narrow margins.
Note: provenance
London, H.D. Lyon, 1961.
Note
Title supplied by cataloger
Subject
Name: Corporate
Name Part
China. Lu jun
Topic
Uniforms
Subject
Name: Corporate
Name Part
China. Lu jun
Topic
Flags
Subject
Topic
Shields
Geographic
China
Subject
Topic
Generals in art
Related Item: Host (displayLabel="Collection:")
Title Information
Title
Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection
Identifier: COLID
13
Identifier: URI
http://dl.lib.brown.edu/askb
Identifier: Local (displayLabel="ASK Brown Call No.")
ChO1810f-1
Identifier: METSID
1153958205343306
Genre (aat) (authorityURI="http://vocab.getty.edy/aat/", valueURI="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300078928")
gouaches (paintings)
Type of Resource
still image
Access Condition: rights statement (href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/")
No Copyright - United States
Access Condition: restriction on access
Collection is open for research.