DW101-155 Part Two.qxp_Layout 1 14/06/2016 15:10 Page 79
CHINESE WATERCOLOURS
413* Attributed to Tingqua Peruvian types, circa 1840s, fourteen opaque watercolours on pith paper, depicting male and female costumes of nobles and peasants including the “New Spanish dress”, each 21 x 16cm (8.25 x 6.25ins), mounted, framed and glazed, together with three similar watercolours on wove paper, depicting female costumes of Peru, each 20 x 14.5cm (8 x 5.75ins) Provenance: Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM CH CBE, (1904-1988) British ballet dancer and choreographer, (invoice enclosed). The present works comprise hand-made multiples, produced in Canton, of the popular studies of costumes or costumbrista. Some the earliest surviving example of Peruvian costume studies were produced by Francisco Javier Cortes in the 1820s in association with an American diplomat Jeremy Robinson. These studies fed into the growing demand for visual images of world cultures and soon print makers were producing copies after Cortes to sell to the European and North American market. By 1830 original watercolours and lithographs of Peruvian costumes had reached China and luxury, hand-made multiples were produced for wealthy clients. The present works represent an example of these hand-made multiples together with three original watercolours from which the Chinese artists produced their copies. Though rare, a few similar examples have survived and most bear labels of either Sunqua or Tingqua workshops. Tingqua (Guan Lianchang) was one of the most prolific painting workshops in Canton during the early and mid 19th century, and produced copies of numerous subjects. The Library of Congress, Washington DC holds an album of Peruvian costumes with a Tingqua label, commissioned by the wife of William Wheelwright, founder of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. Literature: see Majluf (Natalia), Reproducing Nations: Types and Costumes in Asia and Latin America, Americas Society, 2006. (17) £2000-3000
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