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Barnebys HQ
Brahegatan 10
BOX 5038
114 37 Stockholm
All auctions / Asian Art / 19th C. Two-Piece Qing Gilt Serpentine Table Screen with Carved Wood Stand
East Asia, China, Qing Dynasty. A table screen in two parts: a thin rectangular panel of pale celadon serpentine set upright in a carved hardwood stand. One face of the panel shows a bird-and-flower scene in finely incised gilt line. A long-tailed bird sits on a twisting branch among full peony blossoms, with flowering sprays and pierced garden rocks rising from a low bank. A gilt fillet frames the whole scene. Against the cloudy, translucent stone, the gold reads like a brush drawing on silk. The stand has a key-fret panel in openwork, a lower apron of scrolling vines with a central key-fret motif, leaf-carved supports at the sides, and scrolled shoe feet. Screens like this were placed on a scholar's desk, where they served both as ornament and as a shield for the inkstone. Small table screens (zuoping) were a standard part of the Chinese scholar's studio. Over the Ming and Qing periods they changed from practical wind-breaks for ink and paper into objects of display and connoisseurship. Mounting a thin stone panel in a carved stand put the stone itself on show, while the decoration added layers of meaning. The peony was known as the "king of flowers" and stood for wealth and high rank. Paired with birds and rockwork, it formed a familiar wish for prosperity and lasting good fortune. That made the motif a natural choice for a desk object meant to be seen by visitors. Item # 205564
Estimate:£378.37
To the auctionView all items fromArtemis Fine ArtsorAsian Art
Estimate:
£378.37
OCT 8 | 3:00 PM
OCT 8 | 3:00 PM
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