Two Pheasants on a Rock
Not on view
While at first glance this picture of pheasants and a distant landscape looks like a painting, it is actually silk tapestry (kesi). Beginning in the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) and continuing into the late Qing, faithful reproductions of paintings were made in kesi. By contrast, tapestry-woven silks with decorative patterns were produced for clothing and furnishings. By the nineteenth century, kesipictures show a change in technique: large areas are tapestry-woven in a single color and then details painted in. Here, for example, the river is a single area with painted waves and ripples. (From China, 1800–1900 A.D.)
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
