QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

An embellished panel set within a very similar, though larger (120 cm.) zitan frame, carved in a closely related fashion, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, illustrated in Zitan Jiaju, Beijing, 2008, p. 265, no. 174, where it is dated to the middle Qing dynasty. The authors note that the illustrated frame is carved with stylized kui dragons, which appear to be similar to those seen on the present frame, and that the panel was given to the Qianlong emperor by an official on the occasion of his birthday. It is probable that the present frame would have contained a similarly embellished panel.