Man Writing on Lanterns
1790
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1790
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Man Writing on Lanterns is a 1790 paint by Puqua, a company_painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
A man in a dark robe bends over a table covered in red lanterns. Each lantern has a blank paper patch glued on. He dips a brush into ink and carefully writes Chinese characters. This painting comes from a set of 100 showing Cantonese trades. Europeans bought these images to learn about daily life in China. The artist’s brushwork keeps the scene calm and precise. Look up Puqua to see another lively trade scene from the same set.
