Antique Chinese Ancestor Gouache Painting

Item Details

An antique hand-painted gouache Chinese ancestor portrait. The painting depicts a male painted in gouache as he sits in an ornate carved chair. The painting is unsigned and unmarked. It is presented behind glass in a wooden frame carved to look like bamboo with brushed gold-tone finish and a hanging wire. Ancestor portraits were important paintings commissioned throughout Chinese history to pay respect to ancestors and displayed only on holidays, specifically during the Chinese New Year. Accurate representation of the ancestors’ facial features was of strict importance. The bodies, however, were more two-dimensional and generic in design to serve as a blank slate to display ornate clothing with symbolism to indicate rank and social standing.

Condition

- to fair. Paper is very discolored. Creasing, water damage, and light ripping to upper half of painting.

Dimensions

Item #

17CIN171-385