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Qing Official Seated on a Tiger Skin
A watercolour drawing from the album 4168. This image depicts a high-ranking Qing official seated in an ornate chair. The figure wears court robes in orange and blue with elaborate dragon motifs and cloud patterns, indicating his high status. His outfit features intricate embroidery with a prominent central dragon medallion, and the lower portion displays wave patterns in dark blue with floral elements. He wears a red cap with blue trim and a peacock feather, and has a well-groomed mustache. The official sits in an intricately carved wooden chair with curved armrests, covered with a tiger skin. The painting is executed in the style typical of Chinese export art from around the late 18th or early 19th century, with careful attention to details in the clothing, furniture, and decorative objects. The style combines Chinese painting techniques with elements designed to appeal to Western tastes, particularly in the detailed rendering of the figure's sumptuous costume and the well-appointed interior setting. Previously described as "Manchu official seated on and animal skin".
Height: 336 mm
Width: 253 mm
Method of acquisition: Given (1909) by Bothamley, Rev. H.
Chinese
Chinese export art
Chinese export watercolour
Watercolour
Bodycolour
White highlights
Ink
Support composed of pith paper
Drawing : Watercolour, bodycolour, and ink with heightening in white and silver, on pith paper, laid down with with strips of blue silk-covered paper
Accession number: 4168.3
Primary reference Number: 185641
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Qing Official Seated on a Tiger Skin" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/185641 Accessed: 2025-12-05 11:50:21
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/185641
|title=Qing Official Seated on a Tiger Skin
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 11:50:21|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-185641
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
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<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/4168_283_29_201106_amt49_dc2.jpg"
alt="Qing Official Seated on a Tiger Skin"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Qing Official Seated on a Tiger Skin</figcaption>
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