Two Antique 19th-century Chinese Pith Paintings, Fighting Sc...

Estimate

£80 - £120

Two Antique 19th-century Chinese Pith Paintings, Fighting Scenes. Well-preserved Chinese pith paintings depicting fighting scenes. Measure 19cm by 25cm. The skin areas of the image (faces and limbs) are painted on the verso of the pith, giving an enhanced sense three-dimensionality. Rather than being plant fibres matted together into a layer, pith is composed of plant cells sliced directly from the inner tissue of the Tetrapanex papyrifera plant, native to Southern China and Taiwan. This unique composition makes it extremely vulnerable to damage by moisture and other environmental factors, becoming very brittle over time and subject to distinctive cracking.