handscroll; painting BM-1913-0415-0.2

Period:Ming dynasty Production date:1368-1644
Materials:silk
Technique:painted
Subjects:child garden


Description:
Handscroll, painting now mounted on panel, colophons remain in scroll format. Women and children on garden terrace. Painted in ink and colours on silk.
IMG


Comments:There is an inscription dated 1954 written by Liu Cha on Du Jin’s (act. c. 1465-1509) ‘Court Ladies in the Inner Palace’ (Shanghai Museum), which seems to refer to this painting. The inscription is translated and quoted by Li 2013. It partly reads:’Zhou Wenju’s [act.961-75] masterpiece Court Ladies in the Inner Palace, for 100s of years secreted away in the imperial court, was stolen and has gone overseas; it is now in the British Museum.’After quoting Liu Cha’s text, Li 2013 goes on to write that ‘Court Ladies in the Inner Palace attributed to Zhou Wenju is now part of the permanent collection of the British Museum (under the name Women and Children on Garden Terrace).’This painting does have a colophon (now mounted separately) claiming that it is a work by Zhou Wenju titled ‘Children at Play’. Based on style, this painting is from the Ming dynasty onwards, and the colophons claimed to be by Qian Xuan, Wen Jia, Zhang Fengyi and Mo Yunqing are not reliable. The painting does not have any visible imperial seals, and its quality also does not justify an imperial provenance.