The Beauty of Decoration

Among works depicting birds and flowers, the type known as "palace-covering flowers" is most exceptional. About a thousand years ago, Guo Ruoxu in the Northern Song period wrote in Record of Experiences in Painting that, "On two panels of fine silk, Xu Xi of Jiangnan and his generation painted clusters of blossoms and layers of rocks accompanied by herbs and sprouts interspersed with the wonders of birds, wasps, and cicadas. The works were then presented to Ruler Li to be hung as decoration in palaces. They were called 'palace-covering flowers.'" Originally meant to beautify palaces, the complex overlapping arrangements of vegetation in this style fill the surface for a compressed feeling with an interesting and highly decorative effect. At the same time, the delicate brushwork and opulent colors add a sumptuous atmosphere as well.

The painting here attributed to Xu Xi depicts such flowers as magnolia, crab apple, and peony with exceptional and riotous splendor. Next to the rock strolls a golden pheasant, the birds and flowers rendered in outlines filled with colors for a refined and beautifully opulent effect. Xu Xi was a famous bird-and-flower painter of the Southern Tang. In the embroidery here of a chrysanthemum in full bloom, the flowers compete in splendor large and full, creating an extremely decorative pattern.

The Song tapestry features colored silk threads on a blue background with mostly peonies and complemented by multiflora rose, chrysanthemum, and hibiscus blossoms, the layering rich and ornamental. These three works all portray the complexity of vegetation with dense blossoms that demonstrate the beauty of decorative patterning, making them representative examples to one degree or another of "palace-covering flowers."