(清代彩繪白石桌屏) Small Antique Chinese Qing Dynasty Table Screen with White Stone Plaque with Original Painting and Calligraphy Poem. This wonderful antique table screen with a Ming style thick wooden frame has an elegant rounded begonia flower style corner construction with divided sections inserted with recessed smaller wooden plaques with a slender begonia shape design in "open window" style cutouts. The frame is in its original thick old black lacquer. The wood might be Yu wood (northern elm) or Chinese walnut. The stone plaque is securely inserted into the center of the wooden frame when built and can not be removed.

One side of the screen is painted with beautiful array of colors in red, yellow, light green, and brown colors derived from all organic minerals and vegetation. Some colors already faded. It depicts a scene of a highly ranked official, flanked by two young attendants with a horse, visiting or asking the way from a hermit who carries a bamboo woven basket on his side, all in a mountainous landscape. The other side of the stone plaque is written with a poem in calligraphy with signature and chops. The poem came from Tang poet Wang-Chong-Ling (王昌齡)'s “Cai-Lian-Qu (採蓮曲, Song of Picking Lotus), describing the beauty of the young girl working in the lotus pond, against the beautiful scenery of lotus flowers and plants that made the two indistinguishable. One only realized the human existence by hearing of the song of the person. It masterfully described the viewer's indulgence, lost in the beauty of nature and life. The poem might have been added on later though with some fading. This is a rare and beautiful old stone table screen with original rich and beautiful colors. Some old cracks on the stone. As is.

A table screen was often used to define an intimate personal space on a scholarly desk. It is also a symbol of status for the literati class as well as being used for Feng-Shui purpose. A beautiful table screen is a collector's favorite and sought-after object in collecting Chinese art.

Poem in Chinese:
荷葉羅裙一色裁，芙蓉向臉兩邊開。
亂入池中看不見，聞歌始覺有人來。

Dimensions: 17 3/4" x 7 1/2" D (foot) x 19 1/4" H

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