A pair of rare and large portraits of a nobleman and a royal lady

Late Qing Dynasty

Footnotes

清末 絹本清人朝服像 一對

Provenance: Amedeo Corio, President of the Institute of Fine Arts, Piedmont and Leone Museum in Vercelli, Piedmont, and founder of the Modern Art Gallery, La Spirale, in Milan in 1960.

來源：Amedeo Corio先生收藏，於1960年購自米蘭


Impressive in size and imbued with realism and ritual reverence, these portraits are rare visual documents relating to two of the highest-ranking members of Qing society and very possibly of the inner circle of the Qing Imperial Court.

The high level of social prestige suggested by the garments worn by the figures suggests that they may have been a princely couple.

According to the dress regulations, Huangchao liqi tushi, codified in 1759, only male princes of the highest orders could wear the blue ceremonial robe, chao pao, a roundel embroidered with a front-facing five-clawed dragon, a chaozhu necklace made of precious stones, and a hat-finial embellished with pearls and a ruby stone.

By the same token, the clothes and accessories worn by the female figure are consistent with those prescribed for princely consorts; comprising the chestnut-ground robe, the dragon vest, chagua, the long kerchief, caishui, the three necklaces, the black silk headband and gold-filigree phoenixes. The three earrings worn in each ear lobe, a Manchu practice, suggest that the figure may have been among the daughters of distinguished banner families who were traditionally appointed by the Qing Court as consorts for members of the innermost Imperial circles.

The elaborate rendering of the garments, combined with the stark formality of the iconic pose of the figures, devoid of emotional dynamism and temporal specificity, indicates that the paintings served as a central focus of ritual activities aimed at paying homage to the ancestors.

The female portrait is closely related to a portrait of a Royal Lady, 19th century, sold in our New York rooms on 17 May 2014, lot 8136.

The clothing of the male figure closely compares with the robes worn by the seventeenth son of the Qianlong Emperor, whose portrait is in the collection of the Sackler Gallery, Washington DC, illustrated by J.Stuart, Worshipping The Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits, Washington DC, 2001, p.196, fig.26. In style, the present male portrait closely compares with one dated to AD 1888, depicting the Daoguang Emperor's son-in law, illustrated ibid., p.198, fig.44. See also a related tourmaline and jadeite bead court necklace, chao zhu, sold at Christie's Hong Kong on 1 December 2009, lot 2031.