Asian Works of Art

Bound in Russia in black straight-grained morocco, with brown moire endpapers with gold ornamentation, enclosing 26 leaves of heavy card stock, each leaf with 24 "windows" enclosing Chinese gouache paintings on pith paper (one painting lacking), and one additional leaf with 12 "windows", each leaf titled in Cyrillic in gold; the leaves organized by genre/category, including Emperors, Empresses and their court; performers; figures at various occupations; the production of rice, silk, and tea; punishments, both in this world and in Hell; fish; shells; butterflies; "antiques"; landscapes; and animals.

Note:
It has been suggested that the present extraordinary album may have served as a "trade catalogue" for a Russian importing house, enabling prospective customers to leaf through the album to decide what they may wish to commission as sets or perhaps individual paintings.

The paintings were probably produced in Canton, where workshops have been creating albums and individual paintings for the western market since the 18th century. Works such as the present paintings, executed in vivid jewel-tone colors on "pith" paper, became popular in the first quarter of the 19th century as more inexpensive and easier to produce than the paintings on canvas and more detailed gouaches produced for earlier clientele. While it is not unusual to find Chinese export albums of twelve paintings on pith paper, such as sets of butterflies, Chinese boats, or notable figures, the sheer scale and range of subjects contained in the present album is unparalleled, and quite possibly unique.

This album presents not only a detailed look at what would have been available to 19th century patrons, but also serves as a remarkable compendium of scenes of Chinese life and exotic subjects available to a western audience.