Preparing Newly-Woven Silk 捣练图

China "Court Ladies Preparing Newly-Woven Silk" Real Posted FDC. Posted on 13th April 2013 from Shenzhen China

中国“捣练图”实寄首日封。4月13日中国深圳寄出

  "Court Ladies Preparing Newly-Woven Silk (Song Dynasty copy), a scroll with exact delineation and enriched colors attributed to painter Zhang Xuan of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), is a precious legacy of Chinese ancient portraits of ladies. Now collected by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the painting depicts a scene of Tang women pounding, sewing and ironing newly-woven silk. Pounding was an important step of the process, because newly-woven silk was hard and stiff in texture and could only be used after being soaked in water and pounded. To promote farming and sericulture, empresses of the past dynasties were all supposed to preside over the ceremony for worshipping the god of silkworm, which involved symbolic activities such as mulberry leaf harvest, silkworm rearing, and making silk clothes. The scene depicted in Court Ladies Preparing Newly-Woven Silk is considered the ceremony for worshipping the god of silkworm, reflecting the Tang royal family's life."

   "唐代画家张萱《捣练图》(宋人摹本), 工笔重彩， 是古代仕女图中的重要遗存， 现收藏于美国波士顿美术博物馆。此图以长卷的形式对宫廷妇女得捣练缝纫等活动做了生动具体而细致的刻画。捣练是其中重要工序，一些丝帛因为织成后质地较为僵硬，必须经过水泡捶捣的加工才能使用。为了提倡农桑，各代王朝皇后都要主持和参加亲蚕典礼仪式，其中包括采桑养蚕制帛缝衣等内容。《捣练图》所描绘应为亲蚕典礼中的部分情景，反映着唐代宫廷生活的一个侧面。"