EG 108 · Flowers

Plum Branch and Peaches

Chinese Flower-and-Fruit Painting

A branch of plum blossom on the left, a dish of peaches on the right, and a long inscription between them. Horizontal, framed, and made for a dining room.

Plum blossom and peaches are two of the most auspicious subjects in Chinese flower painting, standing for endurance and long life, and they are usually painted separately. Here they share one long sheet, which makes for a natural still life.

The horizontal format is rare and useful. It fits above a sideboard, a kitchen bench or a headboard, where a vertical picture would not. The peach and rose tones sit well with warm woods and with brass.

Framed in black with a salmon-pink silk mat. Glazed.