CHINA - Set of eight gouaches on rice paper (Pith... Lot 147

CHINA - Set of eight gouaches on rice paper (Pith paper) depicting interior scenes with members of the imperial family. 19th century. H. from 31 x 17.8 cm to 31.8 x 19.7 cm (when viewed) Reference: See for an album of pith-paper tongcao (Tetrapanax papyrifera) by the Zhou Peichun Workshop (active ca. 1880-1910) Beijing at the V&Aref. D.1651-1900 depicting craftsmen by and illustrated by Craig Clunas in "Chinese Export Watercolours" London, 1984, plate 42 & p.72 See also CHL 13 mai 2008 L264, CHL 16 nov. 1999 L272, &CHL 10 nov 2005 L657. condition: a few small tears Provenance: Collection vaudoise Note: See C.L. crossmann "The decorative Arts of the China Trade", Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1991, pp.200 & 201, who quotes a visitor's account from 1844 that most paintings on rice paper (pith paper) '...cost, for the usual class of excellence, from one to two dollars a dozen.... Or you can order a set including the emperor and empress, and the chief mandarins and ladies of the court, in the finest finery, and finished as miniatures, for eight dollars.