Live Auction 21109The Collection of Ann & Gordon Getty: Wheatland
A CHINESE EXPORT REVERSE-PAINTED MIRROR
Lot 5

A CHINESE EXPORT REVERSE-PAINTED MIRROR

QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD, THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Closed19 October 2023

Price Realised

USD 81,900

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A CHINESE EXPORT REVERSE-PAINTED MIRROR
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD, THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
Depicting a reclining courtesan under a tree with birds and an approaching huntsman with attendants by a river with buildings beyond, with the original Chinese giltwood frame, the reverse with printed and inscribed Ann and Gordon Getty Collection inventory label
24 in. (61 cm.) high, 30 in. (76.2 cm.) wide, 1 ½ in. (3.8 cm.) deep

Acquired from Mallett, London, by Ann and Gordon Getty in 1986.

Specialist note


The frame of this reverse-painted mirror is almost certainly original, and an example of a type produced in a Chinese workshop and kept after delivery to the West. Constructed in giltwood and carved with naturalistic motifs, in Chinese Reverse Glass Painting, 1720-1820, Thierry Audric points out that frames like this sometimes also had, 'lucky charm motifs, such as the characters for happiness or longevity, the attributes of Taoist Immortals, Buddhist symbols, and so on' (Peter Lang, 2020, p. 113). The backboards of this frame are probably also original, and maintain remnants of applied Chinese paper. A related mirror with a nearly identical original giltwood frame and painting was sold Christie's, New York, 8 April 2004, lot 215, and is certainly from the same workshop.