Bound album of 19th C. pith paper watercolors of Chinese 'punishments'

Bound album of watercolors on pith paper

Album brought from China to Salem, Massachusetts, in 19th C., bound with thread, containing watercolor paintings on pith paper, depicting 12 scenes of Chinese punishments or torture (1942.275.1-12); album cover painted with all-over design in blue and orange; individual paintings secured to larger, stable sheets of paper using paste in each corner and are framed with strips of a narrow, bright blue textile, usually silk; paintings stamped with red cartouche in lower right, partially hidden; watercolors of 'punishments' were produced for the tourist trade and erroneously called 'rice paintings'; pith paper is made from slices of tissue in the stem of a small tree, "Tung-tsaou", Tetrapanax papyriferus.