Mounted Under Chinese Glass Decorated With Two Young Western Women, China, Circa 1810–1820

This Chinese glass-mounted painting, created in Canton around 1810–1820, illustrates the finesse and sensitivity of Cantonese export paintings intended for the European market. Two young women, closely entwined, embody the sentimental theme then in vogue of female friendship or ideal sisterhood, so prevalent in late 18th-century European painting and engraving.

China, Canton, circa 1810–1820

The Cantonese workshops interpreted European engravings imported from London or Paris—notably those based on works by Adam Buck, Angelica Kauffman, or Cipriani—with remarkable virtuosity, adapting them to the tastes of their Western patrons. These portraits of friends, sisters, or confidantes reflect the rise of an intimate and moral iconography, mirroring a society attuned to domestic virtues and private tenderness.

The “fixed under glass” technique involves painting directly onto the back of a glass plate, beginning with the highlights and details before finishing with the background. Here, the artist created a blue background painted directly onto the glass, surrounding the composition with a small oval gold border: a subtle touch that simulates a frame and highlights the soft hues of the face and fabrics. This blue, which is uncommon in Chinese “fixed under glass” works—where black backgrounds predominate—lends the piece a tender and luminous atmosphere.
The work remains in its original gilded frame with fine beading and is in very good condition: the painting has never been removed from the frame, and the original background is perfectly preserved.


Through its refinement and delicate subject matter, this work eloquently illustrates the convergence of the European taste for sentimental portraiture and the technical excellence of Chinese export painters active in Canton in the early 19th century—a unique artistic dialogue at the heart of the art trade between East and West.

Export painting mounted under glass

Height 30.4 cm — Width 23.3 cm — Depth 3 cm with frame