Table screen with auspicious motifs

玉屏
Jade Screens
During the Song dynasty (960–1279) a large marble or painted screen was often placed as a back wall behind furniture in a living room, library, or entrance hall. Later these items were produced in smaller sizes so that these screens could be set on a desk, table, or cabinet in the studio. By the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644– 1911) dynasties, a jade table screen, often with decoration on both sides and resting on a wooden stand, had come to represent the height of fashion among China's educated elite.
清末民國初梮白玉三仙澭渵持如意梸絣壽桃圖圓屏
Larger than most examples of its type, this table screen was made from a slab of remarkably pure, whitish jade, the type most valued by the Chinese. This type of white jade is found only in Xinjiang, in far northwest China. It was rare until the armies of the Qianlong emperor conquered this region between 1755 and 1761. The emperor held this type of white jade in high esteem, and from that time on it was favored for a variety of ritual and court arts.
One side of this screen is decorated with images of treasures favored by scholars. The other side depicts three old men travelling among multistoried temples in high mountains. They are identified as Taoist immortals by the objects held in their hands: a wish-granting wand (ruyi), a fungus of immortality (lingzhi), and a peach, which represents long life. They are accompanied by two boys, carrying a flower vase and a walking stick.