Lady Holding a Parrot
- Artist Culture
- Chinese
- Dynasty
- Ming dynasty, 1368–1644
- Date
- 16th–early 17th century
- Classification
- Paintings
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- image: 19 3/4 in. × 9 in. (50.2 × 22.9 cm)
scroll: 58 in. × 14 5/8 in. (147.3 × 37.1 cm)
width from roller end to roller end: 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)
wooden storage box: 4 1/4 × 18 7/8 × 3 5/8 in. (10.8 × 47.9 × 9.2 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of The Olsen Foundation
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 117:1953
NOTES
This painting depicts the standing figure of a court lady with a green parrot perched on the palm of her gloved hand. The bird is tied to a chain, one end of which goes around the woman’s forearm. This way of holding a bird goes back to the Tang dynasty (618–907), when such birds were brought from the tropics and Southeast Asia as exotic gifts or tribute items and often became prized pets of women at court.
The white cosmetic powder thickly applied to the lady’s nose and the three dots on her forehead also reflect the Tang tradition. The peplum, a short skirt-like garment around the waist, was already in use by the 6th century.