Ancestral portrait with four wives of high-ranking officials

Description:

China, Qing Dynasty
152 x 59 cm (165,5 x 69 cm R.)
Ink, colours and gold leaf on paper, mounted on wooden panel. The ladies, who probably belong to three successive generations, are each dressed in red dragon robes (Chinese: long ao) over finely pleated skirts (Chinese: qun). They also wear so-called morning cloud cloaks (Chinese: xia pei) with rank insignia (Chinese: buzi) on their chests and backs. The bird shown on the badges is a silver pheasant, which symbolizes the 6th civil rank. In addition, the ladies are adorned with phoenix crowns with pearl pendants. There was certainly a corresponding counterpart depicting the men of the family in a similar arrangement.
European private collection, acquired between 1970 and 1998 - Very minor wear