Bird with long tail feathers

Perched atop a gnarled camellia tree branch, a long-tailed bird turns to look up. This domesticated songbird, a kind of magpie, is called "ribbons" in Chinese, a reference to tail feathers that resemble the silk ribbons of official seals or medals in China. The artist, Kano Yosetsu, was inspired by paintings from China’s imperial court, where artists sought to mimic the forms of nature in as realistic a manner as possible. In contrast to the branch, which is rendered in ink with minute dots suggesting lichen, the bird and flowers are painted with rich mineral colors and a profusion of detail. Yosetsu successfully conveys a sense of the bird’s sleek, plump form; the leaves’ smooth, curving shape; and the flowers’ rippled petals and stiff, upright stamen.