Antique 19th-century Chinese Pith Painting
Antique 19th-century Chinese Pith Painting, Torture Scene: Caged Prisoner

Anon. Punishment & Torture Scene: Caged Prisoner

£98.00
£98.00
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An original 19th-century chinese painting on pith Punishment & Torture Scene: Caged Prisoner.

A fascinating Chinese pith painting depicting a gruesome torture scene. One of twelve torture scenes that we have for sale, this subject held particular fascination for westerners in late Qing dynasty China. They could be direct witness to the Chinese judicial system, in the court or on the street, where torture was meted out as both an interrogration tool and as retributative punishment. A significant element of the retribution was humiliation and dishonour, and the punishments were therefore carried out as public spectacle.

The apparent brutality of torture inevitably elicited macabre interest, but the rituals of punishment were also fascinating for what they revealed about wider societal structures and beliefs. Due to the populous nature of China, life was looked upon as a cheap commodity. Under Confucian thinking, beheading was the ultimate punishment because leaving behind an incomplete corpse was a great insult to the ancestors. China's large size also meant that Imperial government was decentralised and punishments were administered locally, where bribery and corruption played their part. Those doling out the torture—the policemen and exeutioners—were often iniquitous and criminally minded themselves. The punishers were, however, tempered by the fact that excessive harshness could be opposed by mob rule.

The skin areas of the image (faces and limbs) are painted on the verso of the pith, giving an enhanced sense three-dimensionality. With original blue border ribbon adhered around the edges of the pith.

+ Read the S&W Collection Research

Chinese Pith Paintings

Delicate pith paintings by local Chinese artists were collected by Western travellers and merchants from around 1825 onwards. By 1833 the monopoly of trade by the English East India Company had come to an end, opening the China trade to dozens of British companies and seeing the number of merchants and volume of trade flourish. Paintings on pith were produced in port cities to meet the Western demand for local Chinese souvenirs. Relatively inexpensive and conveniently portable, they were often glued into albums to provide protection on the long voyage home.

Typically the paintings would depict attractive local subjects such as cultivated flora, indigenous birds and insects, and local trades, customs and costumes. The painting style would combine a traditional Chinese approach of flattened sweeps of colour with aspects of Western influence in detail and realism.

Pith paper behaves very differently from conventional rag or woodpulp paper. Rather than being plant fibres matted together into a layer, pith is composed of plant cells sliced directly from the inner tissue of the Tetrapanex papyrifera plant, native to Southern China and Taiwan.

This unique composition makes it extremely vulnerable to damage by moisture and other environmental factors, becoming very brittle over time and subject to distinctive cracking. It is rare, therefore, that such paintings survive in pristine condition. Being routinely tipped onto album pages, they also often bear glue marks and related discolouration.

Pith also behaves unlike conventional paper as a painting support. Watercolour and gouache paint readily absorb into the plant cells of the pith to create a rich, velvety depth of colour, and then paint pools in relief on the surface, producing exquisitely vibrant raised details, of sparkling, jewel-like intensity.

Pith paintings are a fascinating record of the history, activities and socio-cultural exchanges taking place between China and the West in the 19th century. The juxtaposition of robust vibrancy of paint and translucent fragility of support is an enchanting combination prized by collectors around the world.

COA
+ Artwork Details

Dimensions: Height: 16.1cm (6.34") Width: 26.1cm (10.28")

Presented: Partially wrapped in original collector's protective tissue paper (which may have discolouration and creasing commensurate with age). Unframed.

Medium: Chinese Painting on Pith

Age: 19th-century

Signed: No.

Inscribed: --

Dated: --

Condition: Some minor age toning, surface marks and scratches, including a series of faint vertical lines. There is a strip of loss to the pith at the left edge and to the far lower left and upper right corners. Hairline tears to the pith and the left edge and lower edge have been repaired. There are two small holes to the pith, to the left of the image and towards the right edge. Please see photos for detail.

Stock number: JQ-447