Chinese Four Panel Lattice Screen Set: Oyster Shell Inserts with Animal Motifs

Four-panel folding screen with lattice windows and small carved plaques.

This four panel lattice screen set is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is carved wood & oyster shell. Once China slowly opened to visiting diplomats and businessmen, a trickle of antique furniture leaving the country became a flood that lasted through the 1980s, the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Four hinged leaves, each topped by a grid of small squares backed in pale paper-like fill with a carved plaque at the center. Below are plain recessed panels in dark brown. The frames show scuffs and a deep, dry finish. It is 112 inches long, 2.5 deep and 79 high.

Folds up and tucks away, plaques and all.