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This painting is not signed. Any ideas or information about the subject, age, region and/or anything else at all would be much appreciated.

This painting is intriguing, mainly because of the binoculars. Together with the crenelation, they suggest a military scene, but not a posed one, rather like a snapshot.

The scene is from the Qing dynasty, because the men wear manchu boots and have long braided pigtails.

Their hats are those of imperial Qing officials, with a white button on top, holding a peacock feather. The color of the button will tell you their rank. Their facial features are carefully reproduced, suggesting that these are real portraits. They are armed with swords, rather than bows and arrows, which I guess means a higher rank.

Unfortunately, the seated man wears a fur vest which hides his belt and a possible embroidery on his chest. He is left-handed, unless this is a mirror-image of the painting. This also suggests that a man with this peculiarity and look actually existed. The binoculars hide part of the character on the banner, which I cannot read (unless it is also mirror-imaged, in which case it might be 公, meaning duke). The banner is not one of the famous eight banners.

Thank you so much for such an interesting and detailed response. I really appreciate your interpretation as I had no information at all and now have so much.

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