view: front

Description:

Miniature painting depicting a Chinese woman playing a flute. One of a series of four Chinese export paintings on pith paper, depicting studies of female musicians.
The woman stands with her head turned to look over her right shoulder, playing a green transverse flute from which a red tassel is suspended. A red lotus shoe can just be seen peeking out from under the right leg of her flowing trousers.
The scene is finely painted in brightly-coloured gouache on thin, translucent pith paper. The gouache does not absorb into the pith paper, instead staying in a layer on the surface, giving the painting a low-relief effect. Quite roughly painted shapes for the hands and face can be clearly seen from the reverse of the painting.
The paper is cracking in several places and some pieces are missing.