Large-scale paintings of intimate domestic scenes are unusual in Chinese art.
The Chinese export reverse-painted glass painting of a young mother nursing her infant son offered at Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 18-20 is thought to be one of only a handful of full-size versions painted of this once popular image.
As well as the sitters, who share a marble-inlaid hardwood luohan chuang, in the background hangs a painting showing the bustling waterfront of Canton.