Artwork
明/清 佚名 李安忠(僞款) 高粱雙雀圖 團扇|Sparrows and Millet
明/清 佚名 李安忠(僞款) 高粱雙雀圖 團扇|Sparrows and Millet is an ink painting by the Ming dynasty painting artist After Li Anzhong. It dates from 1506 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
While the piece bears a pseudo-inscription of the artist Li Anzhong, the depiction centers on the naturalistic representation of the birds and the plant life.
The work depicts two sparrows perched among stalks of millet, a composition classified within the genre of still life. As a fan painting mounted as an album leaf, the subject matter focuses on these birds interacting with the grain. The title "Sparrows and Millet" identifies the specific iconography of the scene.
While the piece bears a pseudo-inscription of the artist Li Anzhong, the depiction centers on the naturalistic representation of the birds and the plant life. The imagery represents a traditional theme of avian life in a cultivated setting, emphasizing the relationship between the animals and their food source.
Technique & Style
Executed in ink and color on silk, the composition is rendered in fine, controlled brushwork with meticulous attention to feather texture and millet grain detail. The fan’s circular format constrains the scene, guiding the viewer’s eye along the diagonal axis formed by the two sparrows perched on millet stalks. Subtle ink washes model form, while delicate color accents, ochre and grey, define plumage and grain without obscuring the silk’s natural sheen. Handling favors precision over spontaneity, consistent with Ming-period bird-and-flower standards.
The support, a silk fan leaf later mounted as an album leaf, exhibits slight planar distortions common to folding fans adapted to rigid formats; no losses or significant tears are recorded.
History & Provenance
The painting known as 'Sparrows and Millet' (Chinese: 明/清 佚名 李安忠(僞款) 高粱雙雀圖 團扇) is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It entered the museum as part of the institution’s holdings of Chinese paintings, though a specific accession number is not recorded in the available documentation. The work, dated to 1506, is a fan‑mounted album leaf executed in ink and color on silk, depicting birds in a landscape setting. Its physical dimensions measure 24.8 cm by 25.4 cm.
Context
The painting is recorded as a Ming‑Qing bird‑and‑flower work attributed to an anonymous follower of Li Anzhong, created in China in 1506 and mounted as a silk album leaf. It depicts sparrows amid millet, a motif typical of the period’s still‑life genre. The work is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection, where its inclusion signals scholarly and curatorial recognition of its significance within Chinese bird painting traditions.
Its dimensions (24.8 cm × 25.4 cm) and medium (ink and color on silk) are documented, situating it within the broader development of avian imagery in East Asian art.
Overview
Sparrows and Millet is a Chinese fan painting, likely from the Ming or early Qing dynasty, featuring a pseudo-signature of the Southern Song master Li Anzhong. The work depicts two sparrows perched on a stalk of ripe millet against a plain silk background. Executed in ink and color, the composition relies on fine, dry brushstrokes to render the texture of individual feathers and grain with meticulous precision.
The absence of a landscape setting focuses the viewer's attention entirely on the interaction between the birds and the plant, a characteristic approach in Song-inspired academic bird-and-flower painting. Although the inscription attributes the work to Li Anzhong, the style and date suggest it is a later homage or copy, reflecting the enduring prestige of Li's naturalistic technique in later centuries. Originally designed as a handheld fan, the circular format necessitates a balanced, self-contained composition that feels light yet detailed.
This piece exemplifies the tradition of copying masterworks to study technique and preserve stylistic lineage, serving as a testament to the continued appreciation of Song dynasty realism in later Chinese art history.
Artist & collection
