A Mat Seller
1790
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1790
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
A Mat Seller is a 1790 paint by Puqua, a Patna School of Painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a man kneeling on a flat surface, fixing a tall, woven mat. He’s dressed in a blue robe and white pants, with a bundle of mats leaning against his shoulder. Two finished mats stand upright beside him, tied with straps and resting on woven bases. The mats are made of thin strips, stacked neatly and wrapped with rope. The man’s focus is on the mat he’s working on, suggesting careful craftsmanship. Look up Puqua to see more of this artist’s work.
A rectangular watercolour painting from 1790 depicts a central figure in blue squatting between two tall baskets filled with rolled mats, part of a set of 100 portraying various trades in Canton. The work was acquired from Parsons & Sons and added to the collection in 1898, as recorded in the Asia Department registers following a 2022 provenance research project.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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