Chinese Five Panel Screen Set with Dragon Motif

Five dark panels with faint gilt drawings, like ghosts of a garden.

This five panel screen set with dragon motif is from Anhui Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is painted & lacquered shan mu wood. Many Chinese antiques are now returning to China through auction houses and foreign dealers, as Chinese buyers actively purchase older pieces back, which the article describes as reclaiming their heritage. Five-panel folding screen in dark brown-black wood. Each leaf has a framed upper field with faint gold-line figures and a lower field with sketched plants in vases. Narrow carved bands separate the sections, and the surface is worn. It is 20.5 inches long, 2 deep and 86 high.

Faded gold, but the drawing still holds its line.