17TH/18TH CENTURY

Compare a similar stone-inset huanghuali table screen, dated to the 16th or 17th century, illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce in Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S.Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, pp. 65-6, no. 65, where the author notes that screens of this type served decorative, rather than functional purposes, and would have been placed on top of tables. For a further discussion of the use of decorative stone in huanghuali furniture, see the footnote to lot 2001.