All You Need To Know About “Sketches of Butterflies” Chinese Artwork
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The Stillness Between Wings
Words By Qiao Wen, Heritage Advisor of Tang Heritage
Some artworks hum so softly, you must lean in to hear them. Sketches of Butterflies (寫生蝴蝶圖卷), attributed to Zhao Chang of the Northern Song dynasty, is one such whisper—an ode to impermanence, painted with a reverent eye and meticulous hand.
I first saw the scroll nestled in the digital archives of the Palace Museum. It felt less like an artwork and more like a pause in the world—delicate, fleeting, and full of quiet breath. The butterflies did not fly across the silk; they hovered in memory. And the longer I lingered with it, the more I felt time loosen its grip.
A Naturalist’s Brush
Zhao Chang was not only a painter, but a patient observer. He served as a court artist, yet his greatest subjects were those closest to the earth: grasses, petals, wings.
In Sketches of Butterflies, he used the refined gongbi technique—layering mineral pigments with the double-outline and fill-in method—to render his world with extraordinary clarity. I remember tracing the tiny veins on the butterflies’ wings with my eye, marvelling at how a gesture so small could hold such reverence.
Together with our artisans, I studied how the scroll guides the eye: the curve of a stalk, the crisp edge of a leaf, the quiet symmetry between flower and insect. With each pass, I was reminded that observation is its own kind of artistry—one that asks not only for skill, but for stillness.
Between Science and Spirit
The Song dynasty prized knowledge, and this painting rests at the tender meeting point of study and soul. It is as much botany as it is poetry.
Zhao Chang’s butterflies are not just beautiful—they are anatomically attentive, each antenna and leg captured with care. But it is the atmosphere that lingers: the pale hush of background silk, the golden rhythm of autumn grass, the tension between hovering forms.
I often say that Chinese flower-and-insect painting is not about the insect or the flower—it is about the breath between them. In this scroll, that breath is everything.
There is no central subject, no hierarchy. Just a field of delicate life, holding itself still for just a moment longer.
When Worn, It Breathes Again
When we adapted Sketches of Butterflies for Tang Heritage’s scarf collection, we returned to that breath. The original artwork lives in soft earth tones—quiet, contemplative, and faint with age. But a scarf must do more than hang—it must move, reflect light, inhabit the body.
So we gently reinterpreted the palette: a clear periwinkle sky replaces the aged background, lending freshness and modernity. The leaves now glow in vibrant green. The butterflies remain faithful in pattern but are reborn in brilliance—so that when worn, they lift from the silk as if in flight.
I remember draping the prototype scarf across my shoulders. The butterflies hovered once more. Not suspended in glass, but carried—by motion, by memory. The story didn’t just appear. It lingered.
Let Lightness Linger
The Sketches of Butterflies heritage scarf is a breath of autumn made wearable—a tribute to impermanence, detail, and grace.
https://tangheritage.com/products/butterfly-sketches-heritage-artwork-silk-scarf
Limited release. As fleeting as the butterflies it honours.