Page 141 - Christie's London Fine Chinese Ceramics Nov. 2019

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AN INSCRIBED BAMBOO VENEER TABLE SCREEN
QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
The front of the screen is decorated in liuqing to depict a mountainous
riverscape scene featuring a fshing boat and a thatched hut, below a poetic
inscription which contains the date xuchen xiari, 'summer's day in the cyclical
year of Xuchen'. The scene is surrounded by archaistic kui dragon borders which
are repeated on the stand. The reverse is carved with a cursive script in imitation
of the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi, ending with two apocryphal seals of Qianlong.
8√ in. (22.5 cm.) wide
£10,000-15,000 US$13,000-19,000
€12,000-17,000
Liuqing, literally meaning 'retaining the green', refers to the technique in
which the green outer skin of the bamboo is retained during carving to (detail of reverse)
portray a range of depths and tones. The landscape scene depicted in
liuqing on the present screen is reminiscent of the signature work of master
carver Zhang Xihuang, who was active in the late Ming to early Qing period.
He refned the skill of liuqing to show diferent gradation tones similar to
ink painting, by scraping the bamboo skin to reveal base tones in diferent
degrees. Examples of his work were included in the China Institute of
America, Bamboo Carving of China, Catalogue, p.25, fgs.10 and 11, from the
Freer Gallery of Art; and p.77, no.16, formerly in the Percival David Collection,
now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and no.17, from The Avery
Brundage Collection.
Bamboo veneer, also known as zhuhuang or tiehuang, involves stripping the
inner skin lining of the hollow core of bamboo, soaking it and pressing it fat,
and then applying it as a veneer to the base material of the object. This was a
time-consuming technique that required extraordinary technical skill.
清 文竹留青山水圖「清晏帖」硯屏

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