It is the only extant copy of a lost original Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk by Chinese artist Zhang Xuan.

[1] The painting depicts an annual imperial ceremony of silk production, held in spring.

It shows three groups of Tang dynasty court ladies at work.

The right group of four ladies are pounding the silk with wooden poles.

The group stretching and ironing the silk and the right group which is pounding the silk with wooden poles are depicted in a diamond-shaped formation to produce the feeling of a three-dimensional space.