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Lot Essay
The delightful patterning of this stone panel was probably formed by the dripping of mineral-saturated water in the hanging caves of Mount Emei. The resulting stalactite (zhongrushui) was sliced horizontally and polished. For further discussion, see Curtis Evarts, "Ornamental Stone Panels and Chinese Furniture," Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Spring 1994, pp. 4-26.
These table screens were sometimes called "inkstone screens" (yanping), reportedly invented by the Northern Song calligrapher-poets Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, to display inkstone inscriptions. They were useful desk items, protecting ink and paper from drafts and providing a modicum of privacy to the scholar.
Compare a table screen of similar design and stone sold at Christie's, New York, Important Chinese Furniture, Formerly the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture Collection, 19 September, 1996, lot 87. See, also, a more elaborate table screen with similar stone, illustrated in The Beauty of Huanghuali, Art Asia, October 14-November 5, 1995, p. 74, no. 31.
These table screens were sometimes called "inkstone screens" (yanping), reportedly invented by the Northern Song calligrapher-poets Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, to display inkstone inscriptions. They were useful desk items, protecting ink and paper from drafts and providing a modicum of privacy to the scholar.
Compare a table screen of similar design and stone sold at Christie's, New York, Important Chinese Furniture, Formerly the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture Collection, 19 September, 1996, lot 87. See, also, a more elaborate table screen with similar stone, illustrated in The Beauty of Huanghuali, Art Asia, October 14-November 5, 1995, p. 74, no. 31.