Description (Physical description)
Loose silk painting depicting a court theatrical scene, there are two nats either side of a woman, possibly court lady or more likely to be a queen, who are being watched by a court attendants and an orchestra. The silk is very damaged. There is a large piece of silk which has clearly become unattached from the main painting seen in the top left of the painting. The fact that the trees are missing their tops also suggests that there is a significant amount of silk which has previously broken off and deteriorated.
There is a large amount of gilt seen on the painting, it is used to highlight detail in the nat's clothing and as a sign of wealth on the female figure. In addition, there is a male figure playing a large gilded instrument, which could either be drums or symbols. The rest of the figures in the scene are just painted with no gold. There are 11 musicians and three other attendants at the back of the scene.
Event Date 22/11/2017
Author: Annie McKay