Painting of a Court Official
Painting
1780-1880 (painted)
1780-1880 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This portrait depicts a civil official of the 5th rank, wearing a dragon robe decorated with a silver pheasant which denotes this official court rank. This portrait dates to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was probably painted in the late 18th or early 19th century.
Painted posthumously, portraits like this were a focus of special rites carried out by family members to honour their ancestors. They were expensive to commission and so made mainly for wealthy households. The rank badge indicates that the sitter was a civil official of the fifth rank.
Painted posthumously, portraits like this were a focus of special rites carried out by family members to honour their ancestors. They were expensive to commission and so made mainly for wealthy households. The rank badge indicates that the sitter was a civil official of the fifth rank.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Painting of a Court Official (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Painting using Indian ink and gold on paper |
| Brief description | Painting of a Chinese court official of the 5th rank |
| Physical description | Portrait of a civil official of the 5th rank, seated wearing dragon robes decorated with the silver pheasant. Painted in a scroll format. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | unidentified seal mark |
| Credit line | Herbert John Sharples bequest |
| Summary | This portrait depicts a civil official of the 5th rank, wearing a dragon robe decorated with a silver pheasant which denotes this official court rank. This portrait dates to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was probably painted in the late 18th or early 19th century. Painted posthumously, portraits like this were a focus of special rites carried out by family members to honour their ancestors. They were expensive to commission and so made mainly for wealthy households. The rank badge indicates that the sitter was a civil official of the fifth rank. |
| Bibliographic reference | Kenji Yoshida and Brian Durrans (eds), Self and Other : Portraits from Asia and Europe, Osaka: Asahi Shimbun, 2008, no. 18. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.417-1953 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | July 27, 2007 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
