Vintage Painted Four-Panel Screen with Canal Village Scene

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Lyrical and dreamlike, this vintage Chinese four-panel screen invites the viewer into a world suspended in time. Painted in soft … Read more Lyrical and dreamlike, this vintage Chinese four-panel screen invites the viewer into a world suspended in time. Painted in soft washes of sepia, stone, and shadowed jade, the scene depicts a tranquil canal weaving through an old village — stone bridges arching gently over water, weathered houses leaning close with darkened windows, and boats resting in quiet reflection. A young figure stands poised at the prow, while another sits alone by a wall, wrapped in thought, their presence as much a part of the landscape as the bare branches overhead.

The brushwork carries a poetic stillness, suggestive of misty mornings and fading memory. Fine craquelure on the painted surface adds an aged beauty, like the patina of an old scroll, while the soft sheen gives the work a depth that shifts with the light. Hinged in four sections, the screen folds and unfolds with quiet elegance, and the reverse is simply finished in pale parchment tones.

More than a functional divider, this piece offers a portal — serene, melancholic, and utterly transportive. See less