Painted Bed Panel with Magpie and Chrysanthemums

This exquisitely painted panel, painted around 1900 in the port city of Canton (today called Guangzhou), was inset into the frame of an enclosed canopy bed. Painted on natural pinewood, it depicts a magpie perched on a sprig of chrysanthemums. Painted on natural pinewood, the image of the bird among showy chrysanthemums and tiny bamboo blooms is a variation of a well-known traditional Chinese song played on the qin, a stringed instrument. Paying tribute to the bamboo flower’s hardiness, the song champions perseverance and the painted reference on the bed panel was intended to inspire perserverence.