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Wanli
Of square form, raised on a rectangular plinth with a pair of grinning Buddhist lions modelled to the front, the screen decorated with a fenced garden scene of two boys at play, the reverse painted with a crane in flight amidst scrolling clouds, above a rectangular box pierced with three apertures for holding brushes. 11cm (4 3/8in) wide.
Footnotes
明萬曆 五彩嬰戲圖桌屏
Provenance:
Sotheby's London, 13 July 2006, lot 734
來源:
倫敦蘇富比,2006年7月13日,拍品編號734
The depiction of boys at play is a popular auspicious subject in Ming art, symbolising the wish for numerous male heirs and the prosperity of future generations. Their placement behind Buddhist lions, symbols of protection, power, and prestige, reinforces the auspicious character of the scene. Such imagery would have conveyed blessings for a flourishing lineage and the success of one's descendants.
Compare with a related desk stand in the form of a screen with relief, polychrome enamel and gilded decoration, Wanli, illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall, , London, 2001, p.263, fig.9:109.
See a very similar 'boys and mythical beasts' table screen, 17th century, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 14 May 2014, lot 285.