''Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk'' is a

silk painting Silk painting refers to paintings on silk. They are a traditional way of painting in Asia. Methods vary, but using traditional supplies of 100% silk fabric, stretched in a frame, and applying textile paints or dyes are the beginnings of an amazing ...

attributed to Emperor Huizong of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. It is the only extant copy of a lost original ''Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Wilk'' by Chinese artist Zhang Xuan. The painting depicts an annual imperial ceremony of

silk production Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...

, held in spring. It shows three groups of Tang dynasty

court ladies A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

at work. Viewing from left, one figure sitting on the ground is preparing a thread and the other are sewing while sitting on a stool. The right group of four ladies are pounding the silk with wooden poles. The group stretching and ironing the silk and the right group which is pounding the silk with wooden poles are depicted in a diamond-shaped formation to produce the feeling of a three-dimensional space. Originally kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing, the painting was acquired by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in August 1912.

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Museum entry
{{12C-painting-stub Song dynasty paintings Portraits of women Silk production 12th-century paintings Lost paintings

See also

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External links