Antique Chinese Carved Gilt Lacquer Wood Panel Fragment Rider Scene 11.5″L

Antique Chinese Carved Wood Temple Panel Fragment: Fretwork Roundel with Scrolling Motifs

China, Qing dynasty (19th century)

Dimensions: 9.5″L × 3.5″W (24 × 9 cm)

This is a carved wood architectural fragment from a Chinese temple interior, a single piece pierced and carved in openwork with a central roundel enclosing a stylized fretwork character, flanked by scrolling foliate and dragon-form motifs. Fragments like this were originally set edge to edge in a mosaic of decorative panels lining the interior walls of Buddhist temples and the homes of the literate elite.

Many such temple carvings were destroyed or dispersed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. This fragment is part of a larger group recovered from a warehouse in Shantou, China, one of several hundred pieces salvaged from that find.

Form: Chinese carved wood architectural temple panel fragment, openwork
Construction or Decoration: Single-piece carved wood, pierced openwork; central fretwork roundel flanked by scrolling foliate and dragon-form motifs
Mark:
Period: Ming or Qing dynasty (14th-19th century)
Dimensions: 9.5″L × 3.5″W (24 × 9 cm)
Weight:
Condition: Old, weathered surface with dry patina consistent with age; small chips and losses at the carved edges. Stable and displayable.