Antique Chinese Carved Wood Panel Fragment Figures on Horseback 19.5″L

Antique Chinese Carved Wood Panel Fragment: Elder and Attendants on Horseback, Deep Relief

China, Qing dynasty, 19th century

Dimensions: 19.5″L × 8.5″W (50 × 22 cm)

This is a deep relief carved wood panel fragment from a piece of Chinese furniture or architectural woodwork, set in a later dark wood display frame with a beaded (bead-and-reel) molding border. The scene depicts a bearded elder mounted and attended by a kneeling figure at left and a woman on horseback at right, carved in high relief against a red woven-fabric backing, with meander and floral scrollwork filling the upper corners.

Narrative scenes of this kind, a mounted elder attended by family or retainers, were a popular subject for the deep relief friezes carved into bed canopies, cabinet panels, and screen inserts of Qing-period furniture. The confident, undercut carving and worn, rubbed surface are consistent with age and long use before the panel was removed from its original setting.

Form: Chinese carved wood panel fragment, from furniture or architectural woodwork, in later display frame
Construction or Decoration: Deep relief carving; bearded elder on horseback attended by a kneeling figure and a woman on horseback, meander and floral scrollwork corners, red fabric backing
Period: Qing dynasty, 19th century
Dimensions: 19.5″L × 8.5″W (50 × 22 cm)
Weight:
Condition: Old worn surface consistent with age; carving intact with no major losses noted in photos. Black paint on the outer frame molding is chipped and flaking in places, with a small crack in the lower frame rail.