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This is really lovely but I would be very grateful if someone could help me with translation.

Thanks again

Decent picture painted by a lady during the later Qing period I think (19th c?). Painted in the general Jiangnan region centered on Suzhou by a woman calling herself 者香女史, which seems to me an unusual name, possibly meaning Madam "assenting to fragrance". The first character of the inscription is partly omitted from your photo but the seal seems to confirm that it is 者, but 者 is a particle that normally _follows_ rather than precedes other characters and indicates something like "those who do whatever character preceded me". That is, if the characters were reversed to 香者, the name would mean something like "she who is fragrant", but they aren't reversed. I await the suggestions of those who know the language better than I do.

A quick search for this art name online yields a reference in a 1927 compilation of writings by Ming and Qing women that mentions several poems that this woman inscribed on a different painting (https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/mingqing/search/details-poem.php?poemID=58802&language=ch)

There are a fair number of surviving paintings around by women artists who are (unfortunately) poorly recorded. This one is a nice example.

Thanks Rat. Much appreciated. Perhaps Mr Nagy might help to clarify.

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