This painting, Ladies with Flower Pins 簪花仕女图, traditionally attributed to the famous Tang Dynasty artist Zhou Fang 周昉 (about 730-800) is often used as an example of the High Tang fashion. Many portrayals of Yang Guifei in art and on tv are based on it.
However, recent researches consider it doubtful that Ladies with Flower Pins dates to the Tang Dynasty era:
The earliest mentions of this painting appear during the Song Dynasty. Back then it was believed that it was created after the fall of Tang. Only several hundred years later, during the Qing Dynasty, this painting was attributed to Zhou Fang and thus dated to the Tang Dynasty.
In recent years similar hair ornaments were unearthed in tombs of ladies of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-979) - a turbulent era between Tang and Song. Similar clothes and hairstyles appear on tomb figurines, and on murals in Dunhuang, dated to the same period:
There are no murals, figurines, or paintings created during the Tang Dynasty that portray similar fashions.
During the restoration it was discovered that initially this painting was a folding screen, but later it was partially repainted and transformed into a single piece. This is another argument against Zhou Fang’s authorship since he didn’t paint folding screens.
The book 中国妆束: 大唐女儿行 (about Tang Dynasty female fashion) presumes that Ladies with Flower Pins was created in the Southern Tang state.
The Southern Tang shouldn’t be confused with THE Tang: the Tang Empire ended in 907, and the Southern Tang state existed in 937-976 during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
For comparison, here are paintings that were undoubtedly created by Zhou Fang and show fashions of the so called High Tang period:
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
kaledo-art
snowghoul
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
gummygunk
izzy806
