Lady by a Balustrade with Autumn Leaves — Chinese School

A graceful lady in traditional dress contemplates falling autumn leaves from a garden balustrade in this evocative seasonal scene.

Chinese School. China, Republic period, c. 1925.

This work exemplifies the meiren hua tradition, depicting an elegant woman in quiet contemplation amidst a richly autumnal setting. The genre, popular through the late Qing and into the Republic period, drew on seasonal motifs and classical garden architecture to evoke poetic associations of transience, longing, and refined feminine sensibility within established conventions of Chinese painting on silk.

Ink and colour on silk. Sheet size approximately 36.0 × 42.1 cm. Very Good.