Painting in ink and watercolour on paper depicting scene of a compound with three pavilions, with thatched or tiled roofs, by the waterside. An old woman holding a fan sits in front of a fire in the foreground, wiping sweat from her face with a piece of cloth. Beside her is a woman holding a circular tray filled with cocoons. Standing inside a pavilion behind her a woman tends a young boy sleeping on a bench. Inside the other pavilion on the left are two women pick cocoons from racks. The painting is one of fifteen scenes, on white paper in polychrome, depicting various stages in the culture of silk worms and the production of silk and silk textiles. The painting is in a glass mount. Artist unknown. Copied after Jiao Bingzhen's rendition of "Gengzhitu" (Illustrations of Tilling and Weaving), who was a court artist, active 1680-1720.
The paintings were probably made to be sold on the foreign market.
