Hand-painted silk round fan
Nesting Sparrows
$299
This silk fan is inspired by the Southern Song bird-and-flower tradition, a world where a small nest, a turn of the wing, and a few fine lines can carry the feeling of an entire season. The composition recalls the historical painting often known as Nesting Sparrows, in which young birds wait inside a woven nest while adult sparrows gather around them in alert, tender motion.
What gives the subject its quiet power is restraint. There is no dramatic landscape behind the birds; the empty ground leaves the eye with the rhythm of feathers, beaks, claws, and nest fibers. In gongbi painting, this kind of stillness is never empty. It asks the viewer to slow down and notice life at its smallest scale: hunger, care, movement, shelter, and the fragile warmth of family.
- Fan face
- 24 cm diameter
- Handle
- 14 cm
- Tassel
- 22 cm
- Painting time
- 15 days
Historical reference
Song dynasty Young Sparrows in a Basket
The fan looks back to the Southern Song album-leaf tradition represented by Young Sparrows in a Basket, attributed to Song Rozhi. The original is ink and light color on silk, dated to the 13th century, and now held by the Tokyo National Museum. The small format gives the scene its intimacy: a woven nest, half-grown sparrows, and a quiet field of silk where observation becomes tenderness.
