Manchu Official, Peking

Elizabeth Keith

A Manchurian official, a holdover from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) in Northeastern China. The Qing Dynasty was noted for its astounding wealth, which was reflected in garments of the time. He sits on a traditional chair with a platform for his feet and is dressed in a semi-formal dragon robe with a tie on the right side. He wears a pair of thick soled shoes and a winter hat with a knob and feather of a sixth rank official.

On the carved table to his right sits a blue and white porcelain tobacco water pipe and behind him hangs a scroll.

The Richard Miles catalogue raisonne of Keith's woodcuts notes:"Reprinted through 1936. A portrait of a court nobleman. Edition 75, but only 40 known to have been printed."

One of Keith's largest images. This impression is pencil titled in an unknown hand on the verso.