Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk

Zhang Xuan(713£­755),Three groups of richly clad palace women and their maids are shown engaged in various aspects of the preparation of silk cloth¡ªpounding the new silk on a stone block, sewing, and ironing. These scenes were probably selected from a renowned earlier painting by the Tang master Zhang Xuan representing women making clothes for loved ones fighting on the frontier, the theme of a famous poem. Attributed to the emperor Huizong, but more likely painted by an artist in his academy, this scroll is one of the finest examples of the time-honored Chinese tradition of copying great works by past artists.