Man with a Rayok Box
Pu-Qua, Dadley
Basic information
- ID
- Г-IV-5531/10
- Author
- Pu-Qua Dadley
- Name
- Man with a Rayok Box
- Date of creation
- late 17th – early 18th c.
- Country
- China Austro-Hungarian Empire
- Culture
- Far East
- Technique
- etching watercolour embossing
- Material
- Indian ink paper
- Dimensions
- 29.3 x 24.4 cm (height x width)
Additionally
- Type
- album sheet
- Genre
- genre art
- Provenance
- Purchased from a private individual
- Exposition
- Zolochiv Castle (Chinese Palace)
Information about author
Information about author
Object description
A rayok is a folk theatre consisting of a small box with magnifying glasses displaying movable pictures. Depicted in the centre of the etching, this kind of rayok stands on a high wooden stand and is decorated with a pair of phoenixes. A rayok-man is standing under a square umbrella to the left of the box. He demonstrates the pictures to a boy looking into the box through a magnifying glass. The etching comes from the album "Chinese Customs and National Costumes", which includes 60 images of Chinese people engaged in various activities. An explanation in German accompanies each image; some are written in French. In the eighteenth century, artists in Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China created such paintings for Europeans seeking to learn more about China and its people.
Inscriptions
In the lower left corner is a calligraphic inscription in Indian ink, "Pu-Qua. Canton. Delin.". In the lower right corner is an inscription, "Dadley. London. Sculpt". In the upper right corner is the number "10".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
