柳蔭雙美

Two ladies are focused on a parrot atop a corner of a railing. The intensity of their pose suggests that the bird is some sort of messenger.

The drama of the scene is indicative of images that portray a poem or story, but no one has been able to identify the literary source for this painting.

At the lower left is a signature and seal of Qiu Ying, an artist active in the early 1500s who was famous for painting beautiful women. However, the style of this painting is far more similar to imperial court artists of the Kangxi 康熙reign (1662-1722) than to Qiu Ying.

Some Chinese collectors and dealers in the past would add the signature and/or seals of a famous artist to an unsigned work that was in the style of that artist.

The large seal at the top belongs to Yun Xiang 允祥, a Manchu who died in 1730.