Three Panels from an Embroidered Standing Screen

Throughout East Asia, screens served important social and cultural functions by defining and emphasizing the status of the user, physically separating the genders, creating an appropriate backdrop for religious and ceremonial occasions, and reinforcing cultural ideals through the choice of subject matter for their decorative schemes. This multi-paneled folding screen, depicting pairs of birds in a flowery garden setting, well illustrates the remarkable technical virtuosity achieved by professional embroiderers working in commercial studios during the Qing dynasty.