Circle of Guan Qiaochang Lam Qua, 1801–1860, Chinese
Title:
Portrait of a Woman
Date:
ca. 1850
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
26 3/4 × 18 11/16 inches (68 × 47.5 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Unknown
Accession Number:
B2021.16
Gallery Label:
Although her identity is unknown, based on her attire, the woman in this striking portrait was a prominent member of society. The collar and cuffs of her robe are embroidered with chrysanthemums, a flower motif commonly worn in autumn. While the artist is also unidentified, this portrait’s style connects it with the eminent Chinese painter Guan Qiaochang, also known as Lam Qua, who was active in Guangzhou (formerly Canton) and Macau. Although he never visited Britain, Lam Qua exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1835 and 1845, just before and after the First Anglo-Chinese War. Paintings by Lam Qua’s workshop, and those by his followers, reflect substantial crosscultural exchanges in early-nineteenth-century Guangzhou and were popular among Chinese, American, and European merchants. The British painter George Chinnery (1774–1852), under whom Lam Qua claimed he studied, settled in southern China in 1825 and found success among a similar clientele. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2022
