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near their summer residence in Jehol (present-
day Chengde), north of the Great Wall. These
hunting parties equalled military manoeuvres in
their size. 147 The hunting parties shown here,
however, are different and do not refer to these
imperial practices. Rather, they refer to
Manchurian practices, when the ruling elite left
the city for leisure time in the mountains. One
of their leisure activities was hunting. The
specific place where this tableau is set, with its
fantasy-like overhanging rocky crags, the lake,
house and path, is unknown.
To the left on the painting a simple dwelling
with a couple of young trees is visible. Two men,
one with a musket, are walking in the left
foreground. They appear to be be going out
hunting although there is no prey visible. They
wear long blue outfits with trimmed collars. The
jackets are buttoned to the throat and closed
with a belt. They wear calf-length stockings of
quilted cotton and black shoes. A dog
accompanies them on a lead. It is a typically
English hunting breed, and could have wandered
in from a seventeenth century British landscape
painting with a hunting party. Perhaps the album
of watercolours by the court painter Ignatius
Sichelbart (Ai Qimeng, 1708-1780) with ten
different dogs was known in Canton. 148 Two
dogs of the same breed are being walked by the
man and woman depicted centrally. The man in
the middle of the painting has a falcon on his left
shoulder. The falcon is a bird of prey used in
hunting. The man is wearing a short, light-
brown quilted winter jacket trimmed with fur
Fig. 3.21. The hunt (from in Tartary. 146 and with a round insignia on the chest. This
set of 19), anonymous, Although, likely not produced at the same badge indicates the imperial status of this high
oil on glass, 1785-1790, time (respectively 1785-1790 and c. 1820s), Mandarin. A chao dai is visible under his short
52.5 x 81 cm, both show a hunting scene with figures in a jacket. This is a belt worn by high Manchu
Museum Volkenkunde/ wintry, mountaineous landscape with matching Imperial or military officials. 149 Usually, a
Nationaal Museum van elements. We also see some dogs, a pagoda and a couple of wallets, containing a compass,
Wereldculturen, walled residence in the distance. For centuries toothpicks, provisions, or a knife in a sheath,
inv.no. RV-360-1120. hunting, as a recreation, was a privilege reserved were suspended from this type of belt. The man
for people of the highest circles. The Chinese is standing together with a woman on a wooden
Fig. 3.22. Winter emperors organised great annual hunting parties bridge on poles. He is speaking with the woman,
landscape in Tartary
(from set of 3), oil on ---
canvas, c. 1820s, 146 Both paintings belong to the grouped of paintings conveyed from the The Hague Royal Cabinet of Rarities to
72 x 102 cm, Museum Volkenkunde in 1883. The reverse glass painting, dated circa 1785-1790, is part of a set of nineteen glass
Museum Volkenkunde/ paintings. This set includes a wide range topics: the Emperor ploughing, a dragon boat race, the roadstead of
Nationaal Museum van Whampoa, view on the Quay of Canton with Western trading houses, from left to right: Denmark, Spain, France,
Wereldculturen, Sweden, England and Holland, a palace feast, kowtowing, terrace scene near to the river and fruit tree, hunting
inv.no. RV-360-1134. scene, the emperor’s audience, kite-flying beside the river, All Souls (or All Hallows), the rice harvest, from clay to
pot, bride and groom, at the tea plantation, a summer garden scene, the silk-spinning workshop, and domestic
bliss. The whereabouts of the oil painting on canvas before arriving at the Royal Cabinet of Rarities is still subject of
my ongoing research to its provenance.
147 Van Dongen 2001, 15.
148 Rawski & Rawson 2005, 188-189.
149 Garrett 1994, 44.