Softest Song
Painting in miniature worlds;
An atmosphere of visual poetry,
visions of a kingdom at peace.
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This collection is a gentle and poetic take on the peaceful culture and stories of Song Dynasty China.
From mythical creatures to symbolic animals, the collection focuses on the simplicity, refinement and tenderness of the era.
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Clay/Bone
Ash/Cinder
Cinnabar/Lacquer
Fir/Fawn
Bronze/Umber
Glaze/Lustre
Inspiration
Each season, Sabina writes an essay to accompany the collection. The texts summarise her research, reflecting on the specific themes, details, and ideas which influenced her final artworks.
Cultural Context
The Song dynasty (960-1127) began, as did all dynasties, as a story of heroes and villains, victories and defeats. Following the collapse of the Tang court, the first emperor of the new Northern Song dynasty was Zhao Kuangyin (927-976), and the government he established became one of the most accomplished and decent in history; its achievements in the realm of art would become the foundation for all later dynasties. This was an age of cultural and creative transformation in the long history of China.
The era saw the introduction of ‘literati artists’, the cognoscenti, combining poetry, calligraphy and painting (the three perfections) and applying the idea of painting for pleasure, moving from objective and realistic depictions to a more lyrical expression. Literati-artists of the Song period started the practise of annotating a painting with a poem to enhance its enjoyment and used raw coloured silk backgrounds in place of parchment. Specifically, the practise of animal painting flourished like never before, particularly among this rising scholar elite of the tenth century. They soon became the dominant force in the artistic world, bringing a new, philosophical view of nature.
The Northern Song dynasty went on to enjoy some of the greatest imperial patrons of the arts ever to reign in China. Particularly outstanding was Emperor Huizong (1101-1125), eighth Song Emperor and a rapacious collector of art objects, while also being a painter and calligrapher of great talent himself. The changing tastes in animal painting were fully reflected in the Xuanhe Huapu, the Song Imperial Catalogue commissioned by Emperor Huizong, containing 6396 paintings. It subdivided artworks into more specific subcategories; ‘wild and domestic animals’, ‘flowers and birds’, ‘dragons and fish’. By the 12th century, the Song imperial government owned more bird and flower paintings than any other subject.
All three categories in the Xuanhe Huapu were unique and highly specialised disciplines with the author’s critical evaluations favouring those showing ‘qiyun shengdong’, a term denoting spirit resonance: those full of life and vitality. It is an enigmatic and much debated phrase that means that the painter should endow his work with movement through harmony with the spirit of nature. During the Song dynasty, ‘qiyun’ signified the conceptual and symbolic qualities associated with the depicted animals in accordance with the Song scholars’ view of the cosmological world order. In other words, animal motifs were chosen with a view to their intellectual symbolism rather than purely for aesthetic reasons.
The Language of Chinese Animal Painting
Throughout China’s rich history, numerous animal themes have been created to convey political and ethical messages. Symbolic animal associations can be found in Chinese artworks dating back as early as the third century BC; From early yin-yang cosmology to later Daoist and Confucian philosophies and ethics, Chinese animals gained new meanings related to their historical context, and though never regarded as sacred, animals are at times considered to possess supernatural powers.
While all cultures share the use of animal motifs as metaphors and symbols, the Chinese view and define them as part of the harmonious existence of all beings in the universe. To the Chinese, animals are more than merely creatures in nature; rather they are living symbols with philosophical, historical, and metaphorical associations. This belief applies also to beasts, emperors, gods and demons, forces of nature and societal structures.
As a result of these implied meanings and conveyed messages, the sophisticated language of Chinese animal painting was developed, employing the symbolic associations with homonymic puns. For example, the word for deer 鹿 (lù) sounds the same as 祿 (lù), meaning high salary or fortune, therefore, a deer in Chinese painting usually symbolises prosperity. These homonyms are frequently found throughout Chinese art through the ages. Especially important for animal symbolism are the ancient texts of the Shijing (Book of Odes), the Yijing (Book of Change) and the Daoist texts of the Zhuangzi (Sayings of Zhuangzi).
The reduction of these living things into ‘types’ has transformed them into versatile instruments in conveying ideas of a political, social, religious and aesthetic nature. To fit within this symbolic framework, Chinese animals are mostly portrayed with distinct attitudes or in particular poses, for example, dragons emerging from clouds, cranes calling to heaven or tigers bowing to the earth.
The aim of traditional Chinese animal painting was to capture not only the outer appearance of a subject but the inner essence as well – its energy, life force, and spirit (qiyun). To accomplish this often meant to reject the use of colour, which would serve only as a distraction. This was often referred to as ‘white painting’, most famous of which is arguably ‘Night Shining White’ by Han Gan (742-756). The gentle palette was punctuated by the addition of bold, red seals, transforming paintings into living documents, identifying the artist, verifying authenticity, and recording the succession of ownership between collectors. Usually pressed in red cinnabar paste, the seals often complement the brushwork and are positioned strategically to balance the composition. Artists sometimes added extra seals with quotes, poems, or phrases to express the mood of the painting or their own personal philosophy. ‘Night Shining White’ was originally little more than a foot square but is now a more-than 20ft hand scroll due to the addition of seals and appended inscriptions.
Process
View the collection illustrations in progress, and see how the drawings transform into detailed and intricate scarf designs. Sabina creates a story for each collection, as shown below, which is then illustrated and narrated through her elaborate handiwork.
EXPLORE THE STORY BEHIND EACH DESIGN
ZOUYU, CRY THE DEER
Laying beneath the silvered peach tree, the velvet fur of the fawn blends with the downy fallen fruits.
WIND DANCER, HEAVEN CALLER
The needles of the ancient pine caress ever-darkening skies, until the chrysanthemum moon softly rises.
CHASING THE PEARL
Coyly coiled within their heavenly sphere, two dragons twist and twine, their lithe and luminous bodies flowing like liquid metal.
The Campaign
Shop the Collection
A range of beautiful fabrics, shapes, and sizes are available for each design, from classic silk twill to our sumptuous signature wool and silk blend. Each piece is printed and hand finished by artisans in the UK.
