Bird on a Flowering Branch
Unknown Artist
1100s
Medium
album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
117 × 41.7 cm · painting: 23.8 × 24.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
Accession Number
1985.371
About this artwork
A male redstart, a type of small bird, sits hunched on the branch of a flowering plum tree in early spring. The bird’s plumage is rendered in fine detail with a great naturalistic sense, characteristic of Southern Song court painting. While redstarts tend to spend the winter in warmer climates, they may have been seen during the mild winters in China’s southeast in Hangzhou, the seat of the former imperial painting academy where this album leaf was presumably produced. The small square painting ...