Tartar Officer with Blond Lady Playing Musical Instruments
19th century
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
10 1/2 x 10 7/16 in. (26.7 x 26.5 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
From the Collection of A. W. Bahr, Purchase, Fletcher Fund, 1947
Accession Number
47.18.65
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 19th-century album leaf, titled *Tartar Officer with Lady Playing Musical Instruments*, a lively moment of musical harmony from Qing dynasty China (1644–1911). Rendered in ink and color on silk an unidentified artist, the intimate 10½ × 10⅞-inch painting depicts a Tartar officer—likely referencing the Manchu elite who ruled the Qing—and a striking blond lady engaged in playing instruments together. Such scenes evoke the dynasty's cosmopolitan flair, blending traditional Chinese motifs with hints of exoticism amid growing foreign exchanges in the 1800s. The album leaf format was ...