2-722-180 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Pair of Peafowl, late 1400s-early 1500s. A peacock and a peahen provide the focal point for this work that not only serves a decorative function but may also be a symbolic language to suggest officialdom. The detailed depictions of the birds, especially the feathers, are consistent with the Ming academic style, but Lin Liang transformed the customary coloured images into ink monochrome. The swift brushstrokes of the bamboos and reeds and the "axe-cut" texture strokes in the rocks lend the work vigor and freedom.