Chinese Curiosities by John Ingram

Chinese Curiosities 1741 - 1763

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drawing, print, engraving

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portrait

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drawing

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narrative-art

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baroque

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print

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old engraving style

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figuration

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orientalism

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genre-painting

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engraving

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rococo

Dimensions: sheet: 8 9/16 x 5 11/16 in. (21.8 x 14.4 cm)

Copyright: Public Domain

John Ingram etched “Chinese Curiosities” without a specified date. The composition pulls you into an exoticized scene, constructed with fine, deliberate lines. Notice how the converging lines of the woman's gaze and extended pipe direct our eyes to the two children, creating a focal point. The print embodies the 18th-century European fascination with the "Orient," a world constructed more from fantasy than reality. Structurally, the hatching and cross-hatching build volume and texture, a semiotic system that signifies depth and form. Consider how the parrot in its cage acts as a symbol of exotic containment, and how it sits in stark contrast to the children at play. The artist has used line and form not just to depict a scene, but to question and reflect cultural encounters and the construction of otherness. This visual dialogue invites us to reconsider how we interpret and depict cultures distant from our own.

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