Ban Jieyu (班婕妤) Chinese Scroll Painting Dimension : Entire Scroll 155 x 56,5 cm Painting 78 x 40 cm Artist Red Seal Stamp The subject of the painting represents a courtesan adorned with peonies with an ancient fixed round fan (called in Chinese "t'uan shan"; in Japanese "uchiva"), evoking a classic and famous iconographic canon inaugurated by Ban Jieyu, a Chinese poet and third-rank palace lady who, around 32 BC, wrote a poem about a round silk fan, in which she compares herself to a fan, put away when autumn arrives, therefore "autumn fan" became a poetic image to indicate an abandoned bride. In this Kakemono, in fact, there are two phrases pertaining to the autumn theme from which it can be deduced that the subject is precisely Ban Jieyu. 秋丽最宜新着雨 Autumn is the best time for new rains 戊寅之秋繪於一笑轩 Wuyin Autumn* painted in Yixiaoxuan** *Wuyin is the "15th of the sixty branches". The year of Wuyin is the 15th year of the Yellow Calendar (of the Tang Dynasty) and is one of the "orders of the Year of the Tiger". ** Yixiaoxuan is a poem written by Zen Master Fu. This ancient place is mentioned in the first verse: 一笑轩，在何处，远在乐清之徼，灵山之岵，山倚东溟凤飞舞。 (Yixiaoxuan, where is it? Far away in Yueqing, on the promontory of Lingshan Mountain, with the phoenix flying east towards the mountain). Peonies (牡丹 mǔdān) (called “queen of flowers” in China) The use of the Peony in Chinese and oriental art is very ancient; in fact, it is said that this flower was protected by the emperors, in particular the red ones were associated with “cinnabar” (丹 dān), becoming a symbol of wealth, honour, prosperity, respect, value and nobility, therefore the peony was also called “the flower of wealth and honour” (富贵花 fùguìhuā). It was during the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912) that the peony was elected as the national flower and emblem of China. Other classic Chinese decorative elements, present in the central part of the large vase, are the dragon (龍 lóng) and the phoenix (鳳凰 fènghuáng). Parcel with safe and solid packaging materials. - Ready to ship in 2/3 Days - Shipment time from 3 to 15 days : depends on the distance of Country. - Worldwide Delivery with professional couriers - Tracking Code Shipment - COMBINED SHIPPING : It is possible to combine shipping for multiple Kakemonos in this auction. So I invite you to click on my account name: “Bard Collections”, to see other Kakemonos on the auction.