AN NANMU 'SCHOLAR AND QIN' HANGING PLAQUE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

of rectangular form, carved on one side in low relief with a scholar carrying a zither (qin), the figure dressed in loose robes and looking downwards at the zither with a slouched back, the upper right corner carved in cursive script with an verse from Wang Wei's poem Chou Zhang Shaofu ['Answering Minister Zhang'] followed by a seal mark reading Huang Shen, the lower left corner with a further seal mark reading Huang Shen's sobriquet, Ying Piao Shan Ren, the reverse left uncarved

The subject matter of the plaque is derived from a celebrated scroll painting by Huang Shen, which depicts a scholar carrying a zither below the same poetic inscription.  Huang Shen (1687-1772) was a painter from Ninghua, Fujian Province. The cursive inscription alludes to Wang Wei's poem Chou Zhang Shaofu ['Answering Minister Zhang'] and reads song feng chui jie dai, shan yue zhao tanqin ['The pine wind blows and loosens one's sash, one plays the zither under the moonlight in the mountains'].