(清代雕靈鹿㘅芝綠端硯小硬木插屏）This is a small antique Chinese table screen inserted with a carved stone plaque in a carved hardwood frame. The carved green stone plaque is made from the material of Duan-Yan ink stone (端硯) which was mostly used to make ink-grinding bed for grinding ink for writing calligraphy or painting. Here, because of the rise of the literati class since Ming, scholar's table objects associated with calligraphy or painting, such as this small table screen, were popular and made to show and display the taste of the literati class.

Duan-Yan ink stone was among the four most famous ink-grinding stones in China for making excellent ink. The stone is mainly produced in Fujian Province. It has various dark grey or dark grey-black color hues.

The plaque is carved with a Mei Hua Lu biting a Ling-Zhi medicinal mushroom under a pine tree in a landscape with Xuan-Cao at the foreground in doubled stylized scrolled borders. Lu (鹿, deer), which is a symbol of longevity, also has the same pronunciation with the word “wealth, 祿, Lu”. It is also sometimes associated with a mother or motherhood, as is the plant Xuan Cao (萱草). Ling-Zhi (靈芝）here means “Ruyi, 如意, to-your-wish” for their similar shapes. Both the Ling-Zhi and the pine tree can also represent the noble spiritual pursuit of an elite individual such as a scholar or a hermit. Together, the deer and the Ling-Zhi here represent the longevity and the wealth of life's prosperity in its evergreen state in Chinese culture.

The hardwood frame of the stone plaque and the separable stand appear to be both made of some type of Huali (花梨) hardwood with some repair. There is a small dent on the stone at the bottom of the deer’s body. A small size of screen like this is nice as it is not too showy when displayed with other scholar's tabletop objects for a harmonious balance while the screen serves as a symbolic physical and spiritual existence of one's private and intimate external and internal space.

Dimensions: 9 3/4” W x 13 5/8” H x 4” D

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