Chinese Painting, Ink and Color on Silk. Depicts a group of Chinese men taking tea on a veranda.

Overall size: 12 1/2 X 14 3/4 in.

Sight size: 10 X 12 in.

#1569 .

Silk banners and hanging scroll paintings have been discovered dating back to the Han Dynasty (260 BCE-220 CE). With the ascent of Emperor Taizu of Song in 960 cultural and artistic changes flourished, leading to innovations that were expanded upon greatly in the following Yuan Dynasty. One of the most important shifts was in the regular depiction of humans as opposed to animalistic and natural scenes, and often images were captured in a whimsically realistic style to portray both Empire-changing events as well as average day-to-day activities. This particular piece displays three seated men wearing hats with ancient traditional facial hair, enjoying tea beneath cherry blossoms. Two men standing nearby have no facial hair, indicating they are likely eunuchs and servants. All of them are looking off to the left of the image, as if in anticipation of another party or perhaps some approaching danger. Two of the individuals are facing away from the viewer, an unusual feature of Oriental depictions of city and country life, suggesting that this piece may in fact have been an experiment by a burgeoning artist in capturing bodies from multiple angles and depicting various classes of people all at the same time.

Location Box 5