Museum Of Fine Arts ,Boston,Massachusetts,United States
Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk is a high Tang dynasty drawing by master Zhang Xuan. This version of the work was created in early 12th century in Northern Song dynasty by the order of Emperor Huizong. The prototype of the present picture was painted between 713 and 755 AD by Zhang Xuan himself. Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk is a horizontal scroll about twelve feet long, depicting twelve women in various stages of preparing raw silk for weaving. The figures are grouped in threes from left to right. The first two groups each consist of adults, while the third one includes four women and one young girl.
In the first group, the woman on the far right pounds silk in a wooden mortar with a pole in her hand. The two women in the second group sit facing each other and sew silk clothing. In front of the girl is a charred brazier. The two women next to the girl stretch a long piece of grey-white silk, while the other two are ironing this piece of fabric with a hot bronze pan. Under the silk, there is also a little child looking at the piece being ironed. The work was traditionally regarded as a scene of Tang dynasty palace women manufacturing raw silk. Nevertheless, recent art historical studies (e.g., Blanchard’s article in The Art Bulletin) have revealed that the picture contains a wealth of allusions and metaphors. The pounding of the silk (daolian) is a poetic image implying both passionate love and conjugal fidelity. The depiction of virtuous domestic industry was also meant to serve as a didactic allegory for the loyalty of subjects to the Emperor. Thus, Zhang Xuan’s rendering of women in his pictures was to a large extent determined by the artist’s aesthetic idealism. His contemporaries were captivated by the beauty of well-proportioned females with luxurious clothes, while the skillful line arrangement in this scroll was characteristic of the Tang dynasty figure painting.
Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk by Zhang Xuan is a famous Chinese painting that shows court ladies working with newly woven silk. The women are depicted in different activities such as preparing, sewing, stretching, and ironing the silk. They wear beautiful clothes and have carefully arranged hairstyles, which show the elegance and luxury of the royal court during the Tang period. The painting gives us an idea about the daily life, work, dress, and social customs of women in the imperial palace. The different groups of women make the scene lively and show movement. At the same time, their repeated work may suggest the disciplined and sometimes tiring life of palace women. Silk was very important in Chinese culture and was also a symbol of wealth and status. Therefore, the painting represents not only women's work but also the importance of silk, beauty, discipline, and court life in ancient China. Overall, it combines ordinary labour with beauty and elegance.
