Rectangular table screen with a scene of mountain villages

玉屏
Jade Screens

During the Song dynasty (960–1279) a large marble or
painted screen was often placed as a back wall behind
furniture in a living room, library, or entrance hall.
Later these items were produced in smaller sizes so that
these screens could be set on a desk, table, or cabinet
in the studio. By the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–
1911) dynasties, a jade table screen, often with decoration
on both sides and resting on a wooden stand, had
come to represent the height of fashion among China's
educated elite.

清朝碧綠玉梅絏累放扌亭圖檉方屏

During the 1700s and 1800s dark green jades with varying intensities of color
were readily available from sources in northwest China. The dark colors of this
material were well suited for objects used in ritual, ceremonial, or commemorative
functions, such as vessels, table screens, and jade books.

The front of this dark green screen shows a landscape in relief. Enclosed by corridors
and protected by overhanging trees, mountain villages extend along winding
streams. Plum blossoms are scattered in conspicuous spots among bamboos
and pines. Intricate rocky cliffs appear at the center, above which a crane flies
through rolling clouds. The lyrical depiction recalls the style of classical painting of
the 1200s–1400s. The subject, as mentioned in the inscription on the back of the
screen, dedicates the work to the "Free Cranes at the Pavilion," an old text about
the poet Lin Bu (967–1028) who spent twenty years living in seclusion, accompanied
only by plums and cranes.