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Zhu Kerou
Early Southern Song woman weaver from Songjiang who rendered academy-style bird-and-flower painting in kesi silk tapestry
A craft workshop centres on a potter's wheel holding a tall celadon vase, amid racks of red lacquer boxes, an embroidery frame with a floral design, shelves of celadon ware, carved wooden panels and stacked logs, while one craftsman works at a table and another stands at a glowing kiln.
Also known as Also named Zhu Gang
- Roles
- Master Craftsmen
Zhu Kerou came from Huating, modern Songjiang in Shanghai, and was active in the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Southern Song as a weaver of kesi silk tapestry. Sources differ on her given name, some giving Gang and others Qiang; her tapestries carry the woven signature Made by Zhu Gang of Jiangdong and a Kerou seal. Blending finely spun coloured threads, she reproduced the brushwork and colouring of academy bird-and-flower painting, and her work became known as Zhu kesi. Her largest surviving piece, Lotus Pond and Ducklings, came from the collection of Pang Yuanji and entered the Shanghai Museum in 1952.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Southern Song (1127–1162)