This painting depicts life in the harem in a Tang court. Ten aristocratic ladies waited on by two maids sit around a dinner table sipping tea or playing music.
The imperial palaces in Beijing are graced with yellow-glazed tiles and vermilion walls because they looked pleasant and reflected the wealth, dignity and authority of the emperors.
The glazed tile, as a high-grade building material in old China, was used exclusively on palace buildings of the imperial house of the big mansions of nobles and high officials.