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Lot 49Y

A SOAPSTONE EMBELLISHED SILK 'ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN CHAMBER' PANEL
17th/18th century

14 May 2025, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £2,048 inc. premium

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A SOAPSTONE EMBELLISHED SILK 'ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN CHAMBER' PANEL

17th/18th century
Finely inlaid with soapstone and decorated with pigments depicting a dynamic scene from Romance of the Western Chamber, with Scholar Zhang leaping over a wall and Lady Cui seated on a rockwork awaiting, all set within a terraced garden scene, the silk ground finely painted with scenic details of grass and trees, framed in huanghuali.
21cm (8 1/4in) long x 16cm (6 1/4in) wide.

Footnotes

十七/十八世紀 絹本嵌壽山石西廂記人物故事圖板

Romance of the Western Chamber (西廂記), known as China's most popular love comedy, was written by the Yuan dynasty Wang Shifu. Set in the Tang dynasty, the play tells the love story between the young scholar Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying, the daughter of the Prime Minister. The scene portrayed on the panel illustrates the famous plot of 'Climbing the Wall at Night' (Cheng ye yu qiang 乘夜逾墻). It portrays Zhang Sheng climbing the wall under the moonlight to reach the western chamber. Below the wall, Hongniang appears to be assisting him, while Yingying sits gracefully on a rockwork as she patiently awaits Zhang Sheng.

See a related panel illustrating 'Feminine Virtue' by Lin Yuncai, 17th century, with soapstone, satin and papier-maché, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.33.76.3a, b).

Compare with a related set of four soapstone-inlaid silk panels, Qianlong, which was sold at Christie's London, 14 May 2019, lot 146.

Additional information

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