Presenting Lichee Fruit on a Carved Ice Platter

Description

Gai Qi
China, 1774–1829
Lady in Her Study with Attendants (left)
Qing dynasty (1644–1912)
1821
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker
Art Collection Fund, 1973/1.794
Attributed to Gai Qi
China, 1774–1829
Presenting Lichee Fruit on a Carved Ice Platter (center)
Qing dynasty (1644–1912)
ca. 1900
Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker
Art Collection Fund, 1982/2.51
Attributed to Yu Ji
China, 1738–1823
Presenting Lichee Fruit on a Carved Ice Platter (right)
Qing dynasty (1644–1912)
Early 20th century
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker
Art Collection Fund, 1990/1.188

These three works are paintings of meiren (“beautiful
women”) a genre of painting that first appeared during the

late Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and was produced by low-
status professional painters, rather than by the scholarly

elite. Such paintings frequently depict elaborately dressed
women reading in studies, surrounded by books and scrolls.
It is likely that they are courtesans, who received extensive
training in the arts, literature, music, and calligraphy, and
were considered both icons of femininity and the intellectual
equals of high-ranking men. In Lady in Her Study with
Attendants the woman is brought books, scrolls, and a pipa,
or pear-shaped lute, evidence of her literary and musical
talents. The two other paintings, probably later copies of
Gai Qi’s, also emphasize the women’s intellect. The lichee
associates the women with historical beauties, specifically the
celebrated imperial consort Yang Guifei, who was famously
fond of this fruit.