Antique Hand-Colored Print of Worship at a Chinese Shrine, Ferrario, 1815

This is an original hand colored copper engraving, dated 1815, from Giulio Ferrario's Le Costume Ancien et Moderne (ancient and modern costume), showing a Chinese family at worship before a painted image. The plate has no engraved title or caption.

The scene is set outside a house of planked walls under a deep thatched roof, with a large tree spreading its branches overhead. Below it a table carries five dishes of conical heaped offerings, two lit candlesticks and a small vessel of upright sticks. The family kneels on woven mats before the table. A small child in red kneels nearest the wall, a figure in green bows with the head down to the mat, and a figure in blue kneels with both hands raised to the head. To the right an old bearded man in a crimson coat goes down on his knees, steadying himself with a staff. Behind him a standing figure in a mauve jacket holds one hand out toward the group and rests the other on the head of a boy in blue. Low hills close the distance.

The plate number "36." is engraved at the upper right above the border, and the engraver signed inside the border at the lower left: "A. Rancati f." A small round blind stamp is pressed at the lower right corner of the plate mark, and an oval blind stamp sits in the lower right margin.

The plate comes from Le Costume Ancien et Moderne by Giulio Ferrario (1767 to 1847), a Milanese scholar and publisher. The work was a multi-volume illustrated survey of the customs of the peoples of the world, issued in parts in Italian and in French. The part wrapper issued with these plates closes with the imprint "MILAN, DE L'IMPRIMERIE DE L'EDITEUR, MDCCCXV" (Milan, from the publisher's press, 1815).

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the bottom. Several larger brown marks.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.