This painting of Xiang Fei, the Fragrant Concubine, led me on a fascinating artistic hunt. Why did the portrait strike me? I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, but upon later study, I realized my fascination with the painting was because it blended Western and Eastern styles.
Giuseppe Castiglione or Lang Shining painted the portrait in the 18th century. Castiglione, born in 1688 in Milan, trained as an artist in Europe before joining the Jesuits at 19. He was sent to China to serve under the Qing Dynasty emperor.
Emperor Qianlong by Giuseppe Castiglione
Emperor Qianlong’s Pleasure during Snowy Weather by Giuseppe Castiglione
In China, Castiglione adopted the name Lang Shining and fused his Western artistic training with Eastern techniques. He served under three Qing Dynasty emperors, ultimately becoming a court painter. He died in China in 1766.
He painted several series for the emperors, including my favorite, the Emperor’s prized dogs!
Colonel Rudderbuff Furnishes His Victorian Home Writing is all about the details. But often I’m at a loss when trying to describe a room and furniture. Thank heavens for Colonel Rudderbuff. Now I, too, can furnish my fictional Victorian home and on a budget! The following is excerpted from Cassell’s Family Magazine published in 1890: Colonel...
Women in Late Joseon Korea – Part One I spent a great deal of time in 2018 through early 2020 laid up in bed, feeling lousy. Later, I learned I had been suffering from allergies that had grown more acute with age and my recent move. Stuck in bed, I was too fatigued to write or even read,...
An American View on the Opium Wars from 1850, Part I I admit I’m ignorant of many, many things in history, including the Opium Wars. So I found this American article detailing the facts around the initial wars fascinating. The two-part article is found in The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 23, 1850. I will post part one tonight. The...
An American View on the Opium Wars from 1850, Part II Welcome back! In part one of this post series, we examined the facts around the opium trade between India and China as brokered by the East India Company. Now we are going to take a more personal and in-depth look at the damage done to the Chinese populace. The below article...
Nursing Your Regency Infant Two blog posts in two days! Can you tell that I’m procrastinating? I found this little article “Management of Children” in the British journal The Housekeeper’s Magazine, and Family Economist published in 1826. I’ve included pictures of feeding bottles and a breast pump found at the British Science Museum. Do...
Victorian Home Necessities I’ve been organizing, provisioning, cooking, and trying to stay positive. I need a break! I’m posting information concerning essential Victorian room furnishings and other domestic advice from this fabulous work: emember that to govern a family well, you must first govern yourself. If you wash Monday, bake Tuesday, iron Wednesday,...
A Victorian Country Inn One of my favorite activities as a writer is to visualize the space my characters move about in. Naturally I was thrilled when I ran across An Encyclopedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture; containing numerous designs for dwelling from the cottage to the villa, including farm houses,...
What beautiful paintings! Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoy them, too!