Pair of table screens with flowers, birds, and poems

China

Not on view

Ducks and water plants are incised into one of this pair of screens; small birds perched on plum blossoms adorn the other. Both images are inspired by poems engraved on the backs of the screens. One, by Zhu Xi (1130–1200), describes the tranquil sound of the swimming ducks. The other, by an unidentified poet, refers to the opening of the petals of a tea plum.

Pair of table screens with flowers, birds, and poems, Ivory, China

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Pair of table screens with flowers, birds, and poems, Ivory, China
Pair of table screens with flowers, birds, and poems, Ivory, China

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