Wenxiu, Puyi’s Imperial Consort, was married to him in 1922. Hewlett represents her enthroned with a lapdog and, like her husband, she seems trapped in a Gilded Cage. The dragon decoration of her throne features phosphorescent ink, adding to the other worldly quality of her court. Her varnished eyes are expressionless, Wenxiu nonetheless has a steely quality, one that would see her be the first consort to sue for divorce in Chinese history. The colours are saturated and the print features gold leaf, conveying the wealth and opulence of the court.

Strictly limited, only 30 editions made. Hand signed. 

Wanrong was Puyi’s primary wife and Empress, married to him during the same wedding festivities in 1922 as Wenxiu. Printed with a fine gold leaf outline, Wanrong was a well-educated woman who spoke English, she became addicted to opium, as referenced by the glow-in-the-dark opium pearl Hewlett depicts in her hands. She stands in a subservient pose of offering, twisted here by Hewlett to emphasise that she may wear a crown and gems but serves only her addiction.

Strictly limited, only 30 editions made. Hand signed. 

Some years after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi was remarried in the Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo. Tan Yuling sits in profile in a formal-looking room, ill at ease with her surroundings and delineated with a slightly lesser-than silver outline as compared to the first two wives. Hewlett emphasises her shadow and gives the work an icy-white finish as a reference to her early death from illness aged just 21.

Strictly limited, only 30 editions made. Hand signed. 

Li Yuqin was Puyi’s fourth wife, known as Concubine Fu, also selected under pressure by the Japanese. Hewlett portrays her as a content-looking, fashionably dressed woman of the 1940s surrounded by her books in an elegant interior with pearlescent details on the print. She fled the collapse of Manchukuo in 1945 as Puyi attempted to escape. She later divorced him in 1957 after he was captured and sent to a re-education prison.

Strictly limited, only 30 editions made. Hand signed. 

Li Shuxian was a nurse and Puyi’s last wife, whom he married in 1962 after being released from prison and pardoned. Hewlett strips ornament in this portrait, leaving just a shine on her brooch, emphasising that they lived as ordinary civilians, a life almost diametrically opposed to the status of an Emperor’s birth. After Puyi’s death in 1967, Li Shuxian worked to build a legacy for her late husband in her memoir, which she holds in her hands. Hewlett has also incorporated elements of simple, post-imperial domesticity to contrast her portrait with the opulence of Puyi's earlier wives. a print on the wall behind her which reads ‘forever’ as a tribute to the true nature of their love.

Strictly limited, only 30 editions made. Hand signed.