Lacquer Painter in a Blossom Pavilion

An elderly painter with silver hair pinned in a bun stands at a tall gold-leaf screen, adding a deer and pine branches with a fine brush, a paint palette balanced in one hand. The pavilion around the easel is dark lacquered wood, its walls lined with red and gold panels of misty peaks, cranes, deer and twisting pines. Low black tables gleam with mother-of-pearl inlay of birds and blossoms, and a blue-and-white porcelain vase of flowers rests on a stand beside the easel. Through the open side, cherry trees in full pink bloom frame a still pond, stepping stones and a soft mountain under a pale gold evening sky. A red patterned rug and green cushions warm the polished floor. The bright garden, the black furniture and the glowing screens each hold their own colour, so the room divides cleanly into separate, recognisable parts.