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.
The artwork Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk depicts a gentle and well-planned scene of women engaged in working with newly woven silk. Women in this picture appear to be doing different actions that contribute to the impression of calm yet active process taking place on the wide horizontal picture plane. It is fascinating how the arrangement of the ladies in the artwork is done since each woman seems to be busy with something particular and at the same time dressed in elegant clothes and making elegant gestures typical for the court environment. The earthy background emphasizes light colors of the ladies' dresses. It also offers some information about the importance of silkworm industry in traditional Chinese society. This artwork can be considered as a symbol of cooperation, professionalism, patience and daily activities of women living in the imperial court. Careful work with hairdos, clothes, tools and actions creates a lively impression of the whole picture in spite of its calmed character.
