Owl and Crested Mynas on a Plum Branch

The combination of an owl with flocks of either crested mynas or crows, both loud and rowdy birds, appear on a number of ink paintings beginning in the 1500s. In this painting, five raucous crested mynas (a type of starling native to China) surround a stoic owl intent on resting on a blossoming plum branch. The vertical creases in the painting surface indicate that it was originally painted as a folding fan, and, given its appearance, it must have been a beloved, heavily used fan. After the fan had served its utilitarian purpose, its owner had the painted paper removed from the bamboo ribs of the fan and remounted as a hanging scroll for interior decoration.