To celebrate China in London 2006 and to coincide with the show at the Royal Academy, Guinevere Antiques is staging a selling exhibition of Chinese ancestral family tree paintings.
Sourced from the Shanxi Province, these original works of art date from the 17th to 19th Century, and played an important role in Chinese family life. Usually commissioned for events like the birthday of the head of the family, they record in great detail all the members of the family tree.
Male and female ancestors are always shown separately, and some paintings even come in two halves. As each ancestor is shown as a recognisable individual, dressed in appropriate clothing for the period and often named, the paintings are also accurate historical records.
Many of the paintings in the show have been relined and put on stretchers ready to be hung as pictures – others are being sold unmounted as hangings.
‘Ancestors’ runs from December 2005 to April 2006. Prices for the paintings range from £1,000 to £10,000.
web: http://www.guinevere.co.uk
tel: (020) 7736 2917