QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Embellished panels of this type, inlaid with ivory, wood, jade and other precious materials, can be found in a myriad of arrangements and subject matter, and served as imperial furnishings throughout the Palace rooms. See, for example, several panels in-situ in the Forbidden City, illustrated in Ming Qing Gong Ting Jia Ju Da Guan, Beijing, pp. 695-701. However, perhaps the most similar in shape is the mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer wall panel in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 207, no. 179, where it is dated to the Yongzheng/Qianlong period. (Fig.1) Of particular note, in addition to the shape of the panel, is the closely related carving style found on the lacquer frame,suggesting that the two may have come from the same workshop.