CHINESE SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY

The sitters' elite status is clearly displayed in the elegant furniture and lavish decoration of their surroundings, as well as the exquisite detailing of their robes and jewellery. The carefully executed patterns of these decorative surfaces borrow from Chinese painting traditions. In contrast, the artist has skilfully appropriated European painting techniques to render tonal variation in the figures' faces. This is most pronounced in the white dots to the right hand side of each of the lady's pupils, deftly capturing the fall of light into her upturned eyes.