Lot Essay
As published by Octogan, 1983, the present wall panel was reputed to have been taken from the Summer Palace in 1860 by Lieutenant C. H. Cox of the 2nd Battalion, 60th King's Royal Riffles.
A very closely related rectangular floor screen from the Beijing Palace Museum collection, similarly decorated with painted ivory appliques to render a scene of the "Thirteen Factories" in Guangzhou was included in the exhibition, Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987, p. 102, no. 86. Evidently, panels of this type are typical examples of the creative works that were produced by Guangzhou artisans during the late Qianlong to early Jiaqing reigns. Table screens of this decorative technique are also illustrated in Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2001, pp. 238-245, nos. 189-196.
A very closely related rectangular floor screen from the Beijing Palace Museum collection, similarly decorated with painted ivory appliques to render a scene of the "Thirteen Factories" in Guangzhou was included in the exhibition, Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987, p. 102, no. 86. Evidently, panels of this type are typical examples of the creative works that were produced by Guangzhou artisans during the late Qianlong to early Jiaqing reigns. Table screens of this decorative technique are also illustrated in Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2001, pp. 238-245, nos. 189-196.