Table Screen thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Table Screen

ca. 1820-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Table screen of bamboo veneer on wood core, rectangular with rounded corners at the top, the central panel of skin bamboo incised with a picture of a musical gathering where eight figures (seven male and one female) are grouped around a large basket of peaches, one playing the flute and another the clappers; on the reverse, twenty-eight character prose inscription in lishu, signed Tao Yuanzhi and incised seal Yuanzhi, followed by an abbreviated version of the "Lanting Preface" by Wang Xizhi in xingshu, this inscription signed Gu (?) yuan dao, and incised seal Youyi.

The wood stand inlaid with a panel of skin bamboo on both sides, one with an incised landscape; the reverse with an undecipherable twelve-character inscription in archaic seal script.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Table Screen
  • Stand
Materials and techniques
Bamboo veneer on wood core
Brief description
Table screen and stand, bamboo veneer on wood core, China, Qing dynasty, Daoguang reign period (1821-1850), ca. 1820-1850
Physical description
Table screen of bamboo veneer on wood core, rectangular with rounded corners at the top, the central panel of skin bamboo incised with a picture of a musical gathering where eight figures (seven male and one female) are grouped around a large basket of peaches, one playing the flute and another the clappers; on the reverse, twenty-eight character prose inscription in lishu, signed Tao Yuanzhi and incised seal Yuanzhi, followed by an abbreviated version of the "Lanting Preface" by Wang Xizhi in xingshu, this inscription signed Gu (?) yuan dao, and incised seal Youyi.

The wood stand inlaid with a panel of skin bamboo on both sides, one with an incised landscape; the reverse with an undecipherable twelve-character inscription in archaic seal script.
Dimensions
  • Height: 39cm
  • Width: 39.5cm
Styles
Object history
The Lanting Preface, dated 353 A.D. is the most famous work of the calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303-379), and the most famous single piece of Chinese calligraphy.

Tao Yuanzhi (1776-1852), official and calligrapher, particularly famous for his lishu: see Song Yuan Ming Wing Shuhuajia Nianbiao (Beijing 1962), pp. 389, 424, 428, 446, 452, 460, 469, 470 and 483.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Clunas, Craig. Chinese Carving. London: Sun Tree Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1996. p. 58, fig. 64.
Collection
Accession number
FE.16-1976

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest