Artwork
明 佚名 仿林良 喜上梅梢圖 軸|Birds Amidst Blossoming Plum and Bamboo
明 佚名 仿林良 喜上梅梢圖 軸|Birds Amidst Blossoming Plum and Bamboo is an ink painting by the Ming dynasty painting artist Lin Liang. It dates from 1448 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This hanging scroll, titled Birds Amidst Blossoming Plum and Bamboo, is an ink and color on silk painting from the Ming dynasty.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The hanging scroll depicts a naturalistic scene featuring birds perched among blossoming plum branches and bamboo stalks.
The hanging scroll depicts a naturalistic scene featuring birds perched among blossoming plum branches and bamboo stalks. Executed in ink and color on silk, the composition focuses on these specific botanical and avian elements. The work is attributed in the manner of Lin Liang and dated to 1448.
The available records confirm the visual components of the painting but do not contain specific details regarding the traditional iconography, symbolic meanings, or cultural representations often associated with plum blossoms and magpies in Chinese art history.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1448, this hanging scroll utilizes ink and color applied on a silk support. The work measures 104 cm in height and 47.4 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition integrates avian figures with botanical elements, specifically depicting birds amidst bamboo and blossoming plum branches.
The piece functions as a landscape genre painting that combines these natural motifs within a vertical format typical of the period. The application of pigment alongside ink suggests a polychrome approach to rendering the texture of the flora and the plumage of the subjects.
History & Provenance
The work titled 明 佚名 仿林良 喜上梅梢圖 軸 (Birds Amidst Blossoming Plum and Bamboo) is a hanging scroll painted in ink and color on silk, dated to 1448 in China. It is attributed to an anonymous artist working in the manner of Lin Liang, as indicated by the 仿林良 inscription in the title. The painting depicts bamboo and birds.
Following its creation during the Ming dynasty, the scroll entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains. Its dimensions are 104 cm in height and 47.4 cm in width.
Context
The hanging scroll 'Birds Amidst Blossoming Plum and Bamboo' was created in 1448 in China by an anonymous painter working in the manner of Lin Liang, as indicated by the 仿林良 inscription. The work is executed in ink and color on silk and is categorized as a landscape painting depicting bamboo and birds. It is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and measures approximately 104 centimeters in height and 47.4 centimeters in width.
Overview
This hanging scroll, titled Birds Amidst Blossoming Plum and Bamboo, is an ink and color on silk painting from the Ming dynasty. Created by an anonymous artist working in the style of the renowned painter Lin Liang, the work depicts a natural scene. It features two birds perched on a gnarled plum branch, with delicate ink bamboo swaying in the background, characteristic of traditional Chinese bird-and-flower compositions.
Artist & collection
