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I am planning to sell this piece on Ebay and I'd like to be sure I give an accurate description.

I took detailed photos with & without flash...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23676403@N07/sets/72157623373199957/

Could someone advise who this woman is and what period (date) this painting was likely done?

From my own research, the crown has four Chinese characters which a Chinese friend of mine translated to 'takes orders from heaven'. I understand that this is the Chinese Imperial Order that gives the emperor/empress the power to rule. This would suggest that this is an Empress.

The attire also seems to be of the Imperial court, with the five claw dragon and use of gold on red. However, the woman has badge on her gown of a flying crane which I've read is symbolic of 1st civil rank that would suggest that she is not an Empress, but a top ranked member of the Imperial court.

Somone suggested that this could be Empress Dowager when she was younger (prior to becoming Cixi/Empress).

The detail is quite fine, especially the extensive use of gold gilding ... Could this be a true Imperial portrait rather than a commemorative ancesteral painting?

Thanks for you assistance.

it's an anonymous ancestor by an anonymous professional painter, nice detail on the robes, but the face is not particularly well painted. this is not an imperial portrait.

Thank you for comments. Could you elaborate on how you made your assessments? I am not knowledgable about ancestor paintings and I would like to understand better with your help.

The detail to the face, including fine hair and facial tones, seem consistant with several of the 18th c./early 19th c. portraits I've seen on both Christies and Sothebys sold lots. Perhaps it is because I didn't take a good photo of the face...I'll reshoot and post to the same link as provided earlier. What is missing to distinguish the painting of the face as 'good'?

Could you also explain how the artist was permitted to use imperial motiffs if this is not an imperial piece? I've reviewed about 50 auction records showing dragons on clothing and only imperial portraits show five claws. I did read that civil rank was often exagerated in reverence of the deceased person, but I didn't think this would include the use of imperial colors/motiffs.

I look forward to your response.

Thanks.

I am not an expert in ancestor portraits either, but if you are interested in good quality Qing portraits with which to compare this painting, look to the works of Zeng Jing. For Qing imperial portraits, there are many of Kangxi and Qianlong to compare. Use museum examples rather than auction house sales.

Also see, among other sources:

Jan Stuart, Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits

Arts of Asia July-August 2003
Volume 33 Number 4

Glances from the Past: Chinese Portraits from Ming to Qing, Milan 2006

Note that women did not serve the court as civil servants.

Any artist in China for almost the past 100 years could use imperial motifs without fear of persecution. I suggest that your painting dates from this time.

Thanks again for the info.

Are these the type of references I can find at my local library? I don't have any objections to buying the books if necessary, but perhaps you can provide me with a source to purchase the books from at a reasonable price.
Thanks.

am sure you can get them via interlibrary loan, but it may take some weeks. these three sources are all available from Paragon Books, which has a good website, but don't go overboard if this is a one-off piece for you as I don't think you'll have a lot left over after paying for the books with the proceeds of the sale or any repair to the mounting that you may want to do (the painting surface seems to be separating from the backing in the upper section of the painting), as this can be expensive.

Hi Tim,

I've pasted the Wikipedia link below for an explanation and some illustrations of Mandarin rank badges, which are the squares that cover the chest on the robes. I believe your ancestral portrait showed a silver pheasant, which is listed as a class five civil servant. The figure in the portrait would have been the wife or mother of the official I believe.

The dragons on the ancestral portrait robes are sometimes embellishments related to honors granted posthumously to the official or simply made up of whole cloth to make grandmother look like she won on Queen for a Day (if you're old enough to remember that show).

URL Title :MandarinRanks

These ancestral portraits were typically part of a home shrine for revering ancestors.

The painters appear to have had pre-painted settings with clothing, chair and footstool, etc., and the inquiring customer could choose which they wanted for their ancestor's portrait. There may have been different settings at different prices, all including a draped chair which most households did not have but symbolized some rank (being seated in the presence of all others).

It was customary to "promote" ancestors in social/political rank and/or display of wealth as a show of reverence.

Since the faces were inserted after death they may have been taken from photographs (some seem obviously so).

Many of these were still being made after the end of the Qing Dynasty. But then there was no one going around inspecting ancestral portraits at the end of the 19th century. Sumptuary laws applied to the living.

The face in your portrait has little detail: a perfectly smooth, blemish- and wrinkle-free skin, no lines or contours around eyes, mouth or nose/cheeks. Probabbly a photograph was not available (relatively few could afford such things).

If you search this forum you can find many comments on such portraits.

Good luck,
Cal

Your comments were extremely helpful. Thank you.

I also believe that this is not an imperial portrait. Although I am not sure which rank the bird on the mandarin badge depicts, it shows that it is the wife of a civil official.
To my knowledge members of the imperial household did not have square badges.

I would be curious to hear more opinions on this and also know what the history of it is (where you got it from, how much you paid etc) if you know this information. Some clearer photos would be useful as well - IE with flash in some cases, daylight photos and more close up shots using the macro feature on any camera.

The ones I have seen tend to have more wear and age on them then this one does (though most of the ones I have seen are multi-generational)though there does seem to be some signs of age and handling on this one.

There is a good article on the Smithsonian website which talks about cleaning, pigments used etc which may be useful.

http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/anportcon/default.htm

Another useful one:

http://www.shangrilaasianart.com/Shangri_La/05%20Algemene%20informatie/03%20Archief/Ancestors_Portraits/01_Ancestors_Portraits.htm



URL Title :chinese ancestor painting

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