Pair of Chinese Patriarch Matriarch Silk Ancestral Portraits

Reflecting the role that ancestor worship played in Chinese culture, this Qing-dynasty painting depicts several generations of family, dressed in intricately-detailed and brilliantly...

Believing that the departed continue to hold influence over the lives of the living, many Chinese households honor their ancestors in private family rituals, invoking their spirits for long life, health, and prosperity. Commemorative portraits, which came into vogue in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, were commissioned specifically for ancestor worship and were believed to house the spirits of the deceased. When properly cared for, one's ancestors were believed to be a powerful source of honor, protection, and good luck. This pair of ancestor portraits was hand-painted in the late-19th century and beautifully depicts a Qing-dynasty couple. While some ancestral portraits offer a more stylized representation of one's ancestors, this particular pair is painted with incredible realism and life-like expressions. Rather than depict the pair in a regal hall wearing elaborate finery, the couple is shown in a quiet home environment, seated at either end of a square tea table. Their surroundings are minimal, practically undecorated, and they wear simple, matching blue silk robes. Two young children stand beside them, each trying to capture the attention of their grandparent. We love the painting's close attention to detail and the glimpse it offers of Qing-dynasty interiors - from the carved apron of the marble-top table to the red silk lotus slippers...

Chinese ancestor portrait of a Mandarin Dignitary. Antique tempera on paper painting of a Mandarin Dignitary wearing a red court dress and s...

A nice pair of Chinese ancestor family group portraits, 19th century, on paper, framed in teak frames under glass. Twelve characters total in per...

With exquisite detail and sparkling color, this portrait of a young woman is a remarkable example of reverse glass painting. Lending the finished work a subtle three-dimensional effe...

This intricately detailed composition is a late-Qing dynasty ancestor portrait depicting several generations of a family's male ancestry. Or...

With exquisite detail and sparkling color, this portrait of a young woman is a remarkable example of reverse glass painting. Lending the finished work a subtle three-dimensional effe...

Intriguing set of five Chinese watercolor paintings on silk depicting men occupied in their trades, executed in a soft delicate technique and presented under glass in four wood frame...

Two Chinese paintings of figures in court dress 19th century, opaque pigments on paper, each depicting a figure wearing robes decorated with dragon motifs on yellow-grounds. Pr...

Since the 12th century people in China have used folding screens and doors to partition and decorate their homes—the vivid scenes backing the screens added life and color to a room. ...