Collection of twelve paintings of Peruvian subjects made in China

This collection of watercolors forms part of a forgotten chapter of the history of Peruvian costumbrismo, the hand-made Chinese paintings on “rice paper” (médula paper) produced in Canton towards the middle of the nineteenth century for the export trade. Starting in the 1830’s the Chinese workshops produced this type of work to provide the international market, including Lima. They are based on Lima types taken principally from models by Francisco Fierro and record the permanent commercial movement of costumbrista images over vast distances. They were created following the serial production of Chinese workshops. Each aspect of their execution was the responsibility of a different operator, applying colors to a schematic drawing transferred to paper by means of an exact replica or master copy. Although mass produced, the meticulous work of these pieces is intended to evoke their manual facture, suggesting the idea of the original unique work, at odds with the contemporary rise of mechanically reproduced images.