Tray depicting plum branch under the moon

Laid out with delicate inlaid mother-of-pearl fragments, this poetic scene features plum blossoms branching out toward the sky under the moonlight. The motif probably comes from the Register of Plum Blossom Portraits (Meihua xishen pu), a painting manual compiled by the artist Song Boren in 1238, which influenced the depiction and appreciation of plum flowers—one elegant member of the iconic “three friends of winter” (suihan sanyou) in East Asian literati culture. Following the taste for simple elegance in this era, this plum blossom scene is set against a plain, dark background that brings focus to the subject, reflecting the purity and elegance of the white plum blossom in a cold moonlit night.