Lot 112
  • 112

A SMALL HUANGHUALI AND DALISHI MARBLE TABLE SCREEN LATE MING DYNASTY

Estimate
80,000 - 150,000 HKD
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Description

  • huanghuali (Dalbergia odorifera)
the rectangular creamy-beige dalishi marble panel with white, grey and brown inclusions, mounted in a huanghuali frame above a cusped spandrelled apron

Exhibited

The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Macao Museum of Art, Macau, 2003.
Grace Wu Bruce, Feast by a wine table reclining on a couch: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture III, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 60, pp. 172-173.

Condition

The table screen is overall in good condition. As visible in the catalogue photo, there is a crack to the stone at the base of the screen. Other minor surface wear.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

"Inkstone screens are delicate table-top additions to the scholar's implements of brush, inkpot, and inksticks that is little known and recognised."

Table screens of this size are called yanping (inkstone screen); they are used for shielding ground ink from wind. Refer to the 15th century handscroll by Xie Huan, A Literary Gallery in the Apricot Garden in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where a similar screen is placed next to an inkstone.

See Li Chu-Tsing and James C Y Watt, eds., The Chinese Scholar's Studio: Artistic Life in the Late Ming Period, New York, 1987, p. 125 for a smaller screen made of zitan excavated from the Wanli period (1573-1620) tomb of Zhu Shoucheng in Gucun zhen, Baoshan xian, Shanghai.