A Chinese export reverse glass painting, 19th century glass with oil and pigment 80.0 x 40.0cm (31 1/2 x 15 3/4in). Footnotes: The following research on Chinese export reverse glass paintings accompanies the works in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery and was written by Mellissa Kavenagh; In an age that pre-dated popular photography, reverse glass paintings were commissioned by European and American merchants to China where their luminous and expressive qualities soon became popular with collectors. For centuries the Chinese traded with Europe along the Silk Road and its many branches to the north, however the maritime trade to the south was new in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the Chinese government feared that the Europeans may challenge, corrupt, and possibly conquer their country. In 1757, the government established a set of regulations to control the foreign maritime trade by restricting all commerce to the port city of Canton (now Guangzhou), via the Whampoa Anchorage in the Pearl River Delta. In the southern part of the peninsula, there was a community of artists making works of art for the foreign clients who frequented this area. Glass painting is not a traditional Chinese craft practice, but came about as a result of foreign influence. The reflective quality of the glass lent great depth and character to the favoured European genres of landscape and portraiture, and the medium soon prospered, alongside the high demand for Chinese commodities such as luxury goods, tea, porcelain and spices. Artists cited European engravings as well as British and American prints for inspiration and, in some cases, directly copied works with extraordinary skill. Today, reverse glass paintings are sought-after objects as they mark a rare blend of Western and Chinese aesthetics that reflect the intersecting cultural and commercial exchange that characterised the China trade. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing