Birthday Portrait of a Young Manchu Lady  1850

This aristocratic young woman wears a blue robe adorned with circular shou (longevity) characters, telling us that her portrait was commissioned to celebrate her birthday. She is seated at a lacquered table on a garden terrace, wearing a fashionable hairstyle and surrounded by refined and expensive objects. On the table near her elbow are a snuff bottle, fan, ruyi (wish-gr...