SAYEDEHNASIM FATEMI, DAVIT GHAZARYAN, Five Pith Paper Paintings from the Matenadaran’s Collection (Yerevan, Armenia)-(Foreign-Language Manuscript no. 381)
SAYEDEHNASIM FATEMI - “Matenadaran” Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Department of Oriental Studies/ NAS RA Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Department of Cultural Anthropology
DAVIT GHAZARYAN - “Matenadaran” Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Department of Codicology, Yerevan State University
TOME LXIV 2026
p. 279-290
Online publication date:
09/10/2026
Keywords:
Pith paper, Matenadaran, 19th century, China, Tetrapanax papyrifer, Painting, Watercolor and gouache technique, Foreign-language manuscript
Abstract:
This article aims, to present five Chinese pith paper paintings, for the first time, executed in watercolor and gouache, from the foreign language collection (No. 381) of the Matenadaran manuscript repository (Yerevan, Armenia). These works were donated to the collection in 2021. The paintings were created in the 19th century and depict traditional Chinese daily life (“Festive Procession: Birthday Gift-Giving”, “Daily life”, “March Scene”, “At the Judge’s” and “Congratulations on the Old Man’s Birthday”), a subject that has long attracted Western attention. The article also presents the history of pith paper and its multifunctional uses, particularly in painting