A HONGMU AND DALISHI MARBLE SMALL TABLE SCREEN EARLY QING DYNASTY

the creamy-white marble figured with thick dark grey and subtle beige streaks, the front with an inscription followed by a red seal mark, mounted in an openwork hongmu stand carved with a circular aperture on each side and detailed cusped sides

Minor bruising otherwise good condition.
"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."

Table screens of this size are called yanping, which function as an inkstone screen and shield 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. Surviving examples of inkstone screens, be they made in huanghuali, zitan or hongmu are very rare.

For a smaller screen made in zitan wood excavated from the Wanli period (1573-1620) tomb of Zhu Shoucheng in Gucun zhen, Baoshan xian, Shanghai, 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.