Late 19th Century Chinese QianjiangCai Enamel Painted Landscape Plaques - A Pair

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Up for sale is a pair of unusual and rare Chinese Qianjiangcai (浅绛彩)* enameled porcelain plaques finely painted in soft … Read more Up for sale is a pair of unusual and rare Chinese Qianjiangcai (浅绛彩)* enameled porcelain plaques finely painted in soft colors with tiny figures walking or traveling on horseback to rural retreats surrounded by verdant mountain chains; late Qing Dynasty, late 19th century; both plaques in overall good condition with minor glaze or enamel wear commensurate with age and use, a small chip (approx. 4mm, hard to notice when in display) to the front right corner on one plaque (see last photo); each now glued into a painted wood frame and a raw wood frame for hanging glued onto the reverse
Provenance: Bonhams, San Francisco, 2017
15 3/8 x 10 in. (39 x 25.3 cm) each plaque

*Qianjiang means literally "light umber" and is a Yuan Dynasty literati painting-on-paper style where the landscapes are outlined with ink and complemented by strokes of pale umber to designate the lit areas of the landscape. Qianjiang enamels were applied directly on the white glazed porcelain surface, giving the decoration the appearance of watercolor painting on silk or paper. The decorations are pale in coloration and delicate in feeling, in sharp contrast to the richly almost gaudily painted porcelain of the time. Qianjiang painting on porcelain flourished in the latter half of the 19th century up to the early Republic Period around 1910. Objects decorated in this style include brush pots, tea wares, bowls, hat stands, etc where a significant proportion being flat porcelain plaques made to be fitted into screens or furniture. See less