明 佚名（舊傳宋徽宗） 荔枝圖 冊頁|Bird on a Lychee Branch

Art Historical Context

This delicate fan painting, mounted as an album leaf, depicts a small bird perched on a branch laden with ripe lychees. Created with ink and color on silk, the work measures just over nine inches square, inviting close, intimate viewing. Although long attributed to the Song emperor and renowned painter Huizong, scholars now date it to the Ming dynasty and credit an unidentified artist. The original fan format was once a practical accessory for the elite, later preserved in albums to safeguard its fragile surface. Lychee branches and birds were favored motifs in Chinese painting, evoking the a...