Chinese Ceiling Panel Depicting the Eight Immortals

Dark carved panel where an eight-sided medallion is flanked by flowering branches.

This ceiling panel depicting the eight immortals is from Guangdong Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is carved elm wood. During the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1976, a great deal of antique Chinese furniture was burned, confiscated or scattered, which the article says helped start the scarcity of such pieces. Horizontal rectangle framed in narrow carved borders. Center holds an octagon of openwork pattern, with blossoming boughs in relief on each side. The surface is almost black, dense and heavily worked, with small chips in the relief. It is 150 inches long, 2 deep and 91 high.

Every inch carved, because restraint was clearly never invited.