A highly important pair of 18th century Chinese export reverse mirror paintings.
One richly painted with a ceremonial scene of the Qian Long Emperor seated on a throne within the Forbidden City, flanked by officials, the foreground with a carpet depicting a five-clawed dragon, guarded by four archers, accompanied by four ceremonial elephants. The other painted with figures on a garden terrace overlooking a pond, engaged in various courtly pursuits. Both within carved giltwood frames decorated with ribbon-tied bay leaves.
These exceptional and very finely painted mirror pictures are of outstanding quality and are some of the largest examples known from the late 18th century. The highly decorative pastoral subject of one mirror conforms to the traditional views used by the Chinese in mirror painting. The magnificently detailed view of the pendent mirror is extremely unusual, however, as it records an important ceremony within the imperial palace of the Forbidden City in Peking. The yellow tiles used on the roofs identify the imperial palace, as do the exotic white elephants that the Emperor was reputed to have kept. The scene is recorded with great accuracy and in vibrant detail, suggesting that this documents a specific but unidentified event that undoubtedly would have fascinated the recipients in Europe.