Chinese School, late 18th Century, The cultivation and production of rice - a set of 24

Chinese School, late 18th Century
The cultivation and production of rice - a set of 24
inscribed in Chinese characters numbering the subjects on the reverse of the mounts, and further numbered 1-12 in pencil on the mounts, ownership inscription(?) 'C. Breker' on the final mount
watercolour on silk laid down on card mounts, with pale blue watered silk borders, silk boards
each 93⁄4 x 91⁄4in. (24.8 x 23.5cm.)
the boards 111⁄2 x 103⁄4in. (29.2 x 27.4cm.)
'Watercolours depicting the growing and processing of tea, the making and decoration of porcelain, the production of silk and cultivation of rice, were put together in sets of twelve or more individual sheets ... These subjects were immensely popular in the last quarter of the 18th and first quarter of the 19th century, since they explained to the westerner, in a most imaginary, glamorous and unrealistic manner, the making of products sent to the west. ... These watercolours depicting crafts and manufacturing processes varied in complexity, in composition and detail, but the finest became some of the most sought after items of the export trade.' (C.L.Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Woodbridge, 1991, p.179).

For similar Cantonese albums with sets of 24 watercolours illustrating tea and porcelain production, probably from the same studio, see the sale in these Rooms, 7 Nov. 2019 (China Trade Paintings Selections from the Kelton Collection), lots 4 (porcelain production, £23,750) and 5 (the cultivation and export of tea, £87,500) - the Kelton sets on paper rather than silk. Chinese artists traditionally painted in watercolour, bodycolour and tempera on silk, and produced the first export views of Canton and the Pearl River on silk in the 1750s and 1760s, before they began to work on stocks of English papers imported by the East India Company at the turn of the 19th century.
twenty-four (24)

Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.