Painters of the Ch'ing Court
Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Framed 18"x24"                                                                           ( Original is Color and Ink on Silk; size: 69"x37" , Wallscroll )

This set of twelve paintings depicts, with a spicing of imagination, activities which typify each month of the lunar calendar. It bears no signatures but is plainly a work of the Ch'ing dynasty academy. Judging from the style it is a collaborative effort by painter T'ang Tai, Ting Kuan-p'eng and other painters of the Ch'ien-lung court (1736-1796).

It is the Chung-ch'iu mid-autumn festival on the 15th day of the month. Moon watchers gather among the cassia trees, while a breeze wafts the fragrance of the blossoms into every corner. Ladies lead the children out to watch the moon from the courtyard. A sumptuous feast is set out on a roof terrace and in a high pavilion ladies make music together ; the melody floats down to add to the pleasures. To those below their source seems to be a fairy orchestra.