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Album of 74 Portrait Heads
group overall
group overall

Album of 74 Portrait Heads

CultureChinese
Date19th century
MediumAlbum; ink and color on paper
DimensionsOverall: 7 1/2 × 5 3/8 × 1 1/2 inches (19.05 × 13.65 × 3.81 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number35-223
On View
Not on view
Collections
Gallery Label
Who are these faces from China’s past? Why are they captured so realistically with Western-style shading techniques? Why are so many collected in this album? How was this album used? It may have been used as a book of faces in a commercial art studio that produced ancestor portraits. Family members would consult these books for suggestions to portray their deceased ancestors, much as a witness might use an Identikit to recreate the appearance of a suspect for the police.
Provenance

Purchased through Laurence Sickman by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1935.

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