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Nancy and Ed Rosenthal began collecting Chinese art shortly after their first visit to China in 1987. While visiting Hong Kong after leaving China, they purchased their first piece of Chinese art, a large famille noire vase. With this initial purchase, the Rosenthals shifted their collecting focus to exceptional examples of Chinese art. They sought works in three distinct categories, Chinese Modern and Contemporary Painting, early Chinese ceramics, and Classical Chinese Furniture. Their home beautifully displayed their diverse collection, mixing all three collecting areas harmoniously within one space. From late 2008 to early 2009, the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, displayed sixty works from the collection in an exhibition entitled, Brush Clay Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art. The Rosenthals were drawn to simple, elegant forms of Ming-style furniture, the beauty of the materials, in particular huanghuali and zitan woods, and the technical ingenuity of Chinese joinery. While building their collection, they developed strong relationships with dealers, curators, and scholars within the community. These connections formed the foundation of their collecting ethos, which was built around community and friendship, the pursuit of knowledge and above all, the search for beautiful objects. The Rosenthals consider themselves custodians of fine and important objects and it is with great excitement and a touch of nostalgia that they offer their collection for sale at Christie's. Nancy and Ed have repeatedly expressed gratitude at having had the opportunity to live with these exceptional objects. As Ed recounts in the introduction to the Taft Museum catalogue, "If offered something beautiful, just say thank you."
A DALI MARBLE AND ZITAN TABLE SCREEN
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Details
A DALI MARBLE AND ZITAN TABLE SCREEN
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The attractive, variegated marble panel is suggestive of a mountainous landscape and is set within a zitan frame with finely beaded edge. The screen is supported on a stand finely carved with stylized archaistic scroll in the lower panel and raised on shaped feet and openwork standing spandrels.
23 ¼ in. (59 cm.) high, 14 ½ in. (36.8 cm.) wide, 7 ¾ in. (19.7 cm.) deep
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The attractive, variegated marble panel is suggestive of a mountainous landscape and is set within a zitan frame with finely beaded edge. The screen is supported on a stand finely carved with stylized archaistic scroll in the lower panel and raised on shaped feet and openwork standing spandrels.
23 ¼ in. (59 cm.) high, 14 ½ in. (36.8 cm.) wide, 7 ¾ in. (19.7 cm.) deep
Provenance
Nicholas Grindley, London, February 2006.
Literature
Grindley, N., March 2006, London, no. 20.
V. Bower, S. Handler and J. Burris, Brush Clay Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, 2008, pp. 60-61, fig. 30.
V. Bower, S. Handler and J. Burris, Brush Clay Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, 2008, pp. 60-61, fig. 30.
Exhibited
Cincinnati, Taft Museum of Art, Brush Clay Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art, 7 November 2008 - 11 January 2009.