Set of four  paintings, depicting the "four gentlemen" of traditional Chinese art: plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums. Hand-painted with ink and watercolour on beige Japanese washi paper.  Each of the "four gentlemen" is attributed to a season and has symbolic interpretation of Confucian virtues: - Plum blossoms symbolise winter, perseverance and hope. Plum tree blooms in late winter-early spring. Fragile flowers manage to withstand cold weather and sometimes even snow, keeping their beauty.  - Orchid is associated with feminine spring beauty and integrity of character; - Bamboo symbolises bright summer, it is associated with good luck, moral integrity, and strong character; - Chrysanthemum symbolises perseverance, as it blooms through first winter frosts. The paintings are signed, sealed, wet-mounted on backing paper and ready to be framed. Please use acid-free adhesives when framing. The paintings are manually cut, please leave a few mm error margin for dimensions. Colours may differ due to differences in devices.