This panel is thought to have been inspired by the Japanese porcelain Imari ware, made in the kilns of Arita on Kyushu Island. A popular style of Imari ware combined figurative designs with complex backgrounds of various linear patterns derived from textile design. This panel depicts a large pair of birds perched on a stylised hillock, evoking the Chinese scholar’s rock, set against repeated patterns of petals and parallel arcs. The background is decorated with intricate backstitch mimicking both the running stitch patterns on Japanese textiles and the linear patterns seen in the background on Imari porcelain wares.