Mother & Child, Small Chinese Reverse Glass Painting

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A young woman sits at a black lacquered table with an open book in her hand, her head turned slightly … Read more A young woman sits at a black lacquered table with an open book in her hand, her head turned slightly toward the page. She wears a blue robe patterned with white blossoms, a red collar and a red topknot ornament with fresh flowers tucked at the side of her hair. Behind her a pink curtain printed with blue sprigs is tied back, a lotus blooms from a vase at the left, and a stack of thread-bound books waits in a red patterned box. This scene is painted in reverse on glass in the manner of the Canton export studios of southern China, where artists worked on the underside of the pane and finished with the background. The ground behind her is a mottled, silvered surface that holds light like an old mirror.

Measuring 18.5 inches tall in a dark wood frame with a beaded edge and a brass hanger, it hangs in a reading corner, a study, a hallway or above a small desk. It also leans easily on a shelf or console, where the reflective ground shifts as the light changes.

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