A smooth polished lacquer painting made by selectively cutting back shallow lacquer layers to reveal nested colour contours at different depths, with restrained highlights, in the manner of Chinese carved lacquerware. The Jade Emperor, the supreme ruler of Heaven, enthroned in a celestial palace seen from far below: a majestic bearded figure in an embroidered robe with a flat-topped crown hung with strings of jade beads, hands resting on a tablet, flanked by two court attendants, a long flight of stairs descending beneath him through clouds, golden roof tiles and red pillars behind.
Light: a pale gold glow behind his crown in the shallowest cut layers of cream and gold, ringed by nested contours of vermilion, imperial yellow, deep jade green and near-black lacquer down the robe, stairs and pillars; palette of vermilion, gold, jade green and black; luxurious, ceremonial, deep, polished; the staircase leads down the tall frame.
Tall 9:16 portrait frame, composed vertically with the figure rising through the height of the frame. A dignified, respectful depiction following traditional Chinese iconography, never comic; no readable Chinese characters, seals, inscriptions, letters or logos anywhere.
