The Erin Pearson Collection

A private collection · Brisbane

Songbird Among the Wisteria

Unknown (Chinese)

The Work

The title here is descriptive, taken from the subject matter — the inscribed calligraphy has not been fully deciphered, and this is not a literal translation.

I was first drawn to the pieces because of their beauty and felt that I could save them from ending up in landfill. I was also excited by the challenge of this. The composition — a songbird perched among flowering wisteria — is the most visually striking of the three, and even without a confirmed translation of the inscription, the piece carries real presence. Part of what draws me to these works is the mystery itself: pieces with real history, waiting to be fully understood.

Year
Unknown — estimated circa 1950s–60s, possibly earlier, based on materials and style
Medium
Ink and colour on silk
Image size
190 mm x 385 mm
Framed size
355 mm x 560 mm
Catalogue
0037

Provenance

This painting was salvaged from Facebook Marketplace as part of a set of three, found together in poor, deteriorating frames. I carefully stabilised and repaired the silk using wheat starch paste — a traditional, reversible conservation method — and had it conservation-framed to protect and present it properly. Its history prior to that point is unknown.


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Condition

Extremely fragile. Visible age-related foxing, staining, and historic separation at the mount joins — preserved rather than concealed, consistent with the piece's age and history.

Framing

Conservation-framed in native Australian silver ash with black bean spline joins and UltraVue glazing, chosen to protect the fragile silk while complementing its warm, aged tones.

About Unknown (Chinese)

The artist is unidentified. A four-character inscription is present in cursive script, but has not been reliably deciphered — the calligraphic style differs enough from the other two pieces in this set that it may represent a name or hao (artist's studio name) rather than a descriptive title, though this is not confirmed. The painting belongs to the tradition of Chinese bird-and-flower (huaniao) painting.