Jo Ji-un was a literati painter known for his ink flower-and-bird paintings and plum blossom works. He came from a family of prominent literati painters: his father, Jo Sok (1595-1668), was famous for his paintings of magpies, and his cousin Jo Jong-un (1607-?) was also a renowned calligrapher and painter. In this painting, a bird with a lowered head quietly dozes on a branch. The simple arrangement of multiple arches of bamboo and plum branches with the single bird at the center demonstrates a refined sense of balance and compositional beauty.