Oriental rococo: three Chinese courtly reversed oil paintings on mirror

Recently there were three panels of reversed painting on mirror (Fig. 1, 2, 3) available for examination, and the result was most singular as it was able to address many unsolved questions that puzzled the field of Oriental art studies for many decades, such as the originality of paintings on glass in China and its technique, the complicated patron/artist relationship between the Chinese Emperors and the Western artists who served in Qing court and the influence of the Chinese Courtly Art on its Export Art. This article will offer a thorough scrutiny on the three special objects in hoping to explore their content and locate them in the correct context, further more, to discuss the iconography within the milieu of communication between China and the West and debate the social cultural and historical dynamics that surround the works of art.