VINTAGE 8 PIECE SET OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE FEATHER ART PICTURES

VINTAGE CONDITION, DEFINITE SIGNS OF AGEING. 1 OR 2 FRAMES A LITTLE LOOSE.

A wonderful collection and a tribute to the intricate nature of the Chinese feather art movement. This collection still emanates subtle beauty despite the flaws that have come with their ageing.

4 MEDIUM ROUND BIRD/FLOWER PICTURES WITH ORIGINAL PACKAGING

3 SMALL ROUND BUTTERFLY/FLOWER PICTURES WITH ORIGINAL PACKAGING

1 MEDIUM RECTANGLE BIRD ON BRANCH PICTURE WITH ORIGINAL PACKAGING

A Dying Art Form?

China's bird-feather pictures, once regarded by foreigners as "an art of wonder", are in danger of being lost as many factories producing the artworks close down.

Feather pictures vividly depicting birds, beasts and other wildlife as well as all kinds of flowers, have a long-standing history in China.

They were included among cultural relics unearthed from the Mawangdui Tomb, where a well-preserved body of a woman dating back2000 years was found.

With vivid characteristics of China's traditional paintings, sculptures, woodcuts and watercolors, feather pictures can be divided three techniques - flat, bas-relief and two-dimensional.

Many provincial Chinese arts and crafts factories used to produce feather pictures. Worth up to hundreds of US dollars, they have been exported to more than 30 countries worldwide