Palace ladies by a lotus pond

Formerly attributed to Zhou Wenju (傳)周文矩 (active mid-10th century) · 18th century

Depicting a scene of women, children and servants (total of fifteen figures) engaged in various activities, including playing weiqi and playing musical instruments, both inside and outside a pavilion overlooking a lotus pond with a pair of mandarin ducks. In the middle there is one figure on each side of a fence covered with a flowering vine. To the left stand a woman and a servant (who holds a zither) in a pavilion containing a table with scholarly implements and a ding, and with a painting on a screen.