Chen Yi Late seventeenth century

depicting a long-tailed bird (possibly a shoudainiao [ribbon-tailed bird]) and five black birds on the branches of an ancient pine twined with an orange-blossomed vine, roses and rockwork at the base, with an inscription which may be translated:



Following the brush idea of Yunxi waishi  [Yun Shouping] written at the mountain pavilion at ...in the summer of the xinzi year (?), bearing two seals

Chinese Paintings from the Henricksen Collection, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; Tyler Art Gallery, State University of New York, Oswego, 5th September 2002 - 23rd February 2003, cat. no. 28, illustrated.

creases throughout, staining-particularly to the upper section and down the middle, surface somewhat abraded, a few scattered flyspots, paper lightly toned
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The possible presence of the shoudainiao, the ribbon-tailed bird, suggests wishes for longevity.