Paired Birds and Flowers

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

This charming screen illustrates paired birds amid flowering plants. The birds represent marital happiness and fidelity, while the flowers create a garden paradise. Such screens were commonly used to decorate the women's quarters within traditional Korean households. Families of humble means would hire itinerant painters to render colorful, naive scenes such as those shown here, whereas wealthy families might employ professional painters whose style was more precise and finished. Asia