A rare Chinese erotic portrait of the concubine Pan JinLian Kangxi 1662-1722

A rare Chinese erotic portrait of the concubine Pan JinLian Kangxi 1662-1722, standing wearing court costume and holding a cherry in her left hand, the colours on silk and laid down on a panel, four collectors' seals to the bottom right and left, minor restoration to the silk ground, 160cm x 82.5cm. Provenance: formerly in a distinguished French aristocratic private collection. The subject is taken from the erotic novel The Plum in the Golden Vase and describes the downfall of a Song dynasty household of the rich merchant Ximen Qing, his six wives and concubines in the early 12th century. A key episode in the novel reveals the seduction of JinLian by Ximen Qing and the murder of her husband. He subsequently married her. For further details see Tod Roy, The Plum in the Golden Vase, Princeton University Press.