ANTIQUE EMPIRE STYLE MAHOGANY AND ORMOLU FIVE-PIECE SALON SUITE
$24,000.00
Pith paintings such as these are a fascinating insight into traditional Chinese customs, and were avidly collected by Western visitors.
This set of six pith paintings gives an insight into daily life in 19th century China. Rendered in vibrant colours, this set depicts a series of vignettes of women weaving, a traditional female domestic activity.
The bright tones of the clothing, furniture, and geometric carpets in each of the paintings stand out against the plain white background, accompanied by a hanging curtain in some of the images. The painting style combines a traditional Chinese approach of a flattened pictorial surface and blocks of colour, with aspects of Western influence in the realism and detail. The pith paper base is a less absorbent canvas than traditional paper, which allows the paint to pool in relief on the surface, producing raised details of sparkling, jewel-like intensity.
Tracing back to the early 19th century, pith paintings by local Chinese artists became highly popular with Western travellers, as mementos of local subjects such as indigenous flora and fauna