A DECORATIVE INLAID LACQUER AND CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL PANEL

Five objects made of colourful precious materials are presented in relief against a light brown lacquer background. The double gourd vase features cloisonné decor, its blue surface filled with a regular floral pattern and the inscription "good fortune". The remaining objects are carved from semiprecious stones (jade, jadeite, agate, turquoise, lapis lazuli), mother-of-pearl, glass and wood. Flowers and bamboo issue from the top of the vase, filling the top part of the panel. Behind the vase is a flat rectangular jade bowl with flowering narcissus. Before it lies a fruiting citrus branch, and to the right stands a statuette of an elephant bearing a vase filled with lingzhi (mushroom of immortality). The final object is a bowl of fruit on a wooden stand. All the items on display are symbolic - this is not just a beautiful and expensive decorative object. The back side of the panel is richly decorated with cloisonné, with lotus tendrils and other ornaments. The frame is of polished hardwood (hongmu), the central motif of the archaic bronze fitting is a bat - a symbol of good fortune.