Peonies

1906-1908

Hanging scroll of highly-coloured peony blossoms, in ink and colours on silk. The flowers and stems are depicted with minimal use of outline, a technique referred to as 'boneless' (mogu 沒骨) in Chinese. A prominent seal of Dowager Empress Cixi is placed at the centre of the upper register of the painting. A rectangle of paper called a shitang 詩堂 (poetry hall) has been mounted above the silk surface of the painting. This area of paper was intended as a site for calligraphic inscription, but was never filled.