Six Panel Inlaid Screen

This 18th century six-panel screen has been exquisitely inlaid with soapstone, mother-of-pearl, jade, and bone with a continuous scene depicting robed scholars and attendants in a garden setting. A hard stone pavilion next to a waterway is central to the activity with figures surrounding it on boats and bridges, on lacquered grounds. This screen is a beautiful example of the inlay technique known as baibao qian (one-hundred-precious-material inlay), a type of inlay in which the inlaid materials project above the surface into which they are inlaid like carving in relief. During the late Ming dynasty, Jiangsu province was famous for its baibao qian material inlay lacquer work. This kind of work circulated rather widely during the late Ming and early Qing periods. This screen has unusual provenance as well, it was acquired from the estate of a military family who received it as a gift from the family of the first president of South Korea, Rhee Syngman. Rhee Syngman lived in Shanghai in the early 1920's and helped to establish the new provisional South Korean government.

Each panel measures 74"H by 16"W x 1"D