Red silk panel with Chinese characters
Category
Textiles
Date
1946
Materials
Embroidered silk
Order this imageCollection
Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire
NT 1275359
Summary
A red silk panel embroidered with an array of 100 Chinese characters in white silk, said to be the chinese character meaning "Longevity" or "Fullness of Life", written 100 times in different styles, expressing the wish that Shaw would live for a hundred years. Black and gilded moulded wood frame, glazed. Stuck onto the glass at each side, a strip of red paper with Chinese characters in black ink. The characters on the paper strips are reported to read; "On the 90th. birthday of Mr. Bernard Shaw" and "Lt. General Kwei Yongchin, Head of Military Mission from the Republic of China." Originally displayed in the drawing room (1946-1950) by Bernard Shaw. Press photographs taken of Shaw during this period show the Chinese panel in the background.
Provenance
The Shaw Collection. The house and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust by George Bernard Shaw in 1950, together with Shaw's photographic archive.
Marks and inscriptions
The characters on the paper strips are reported to read; "On the 90th. birthday of Mr. Bernard Shaw" and "Lt. General Kwei Yongchin, Head of Military Mission from the Republic of China."
References
National Book League (Great Britain), Bernard Shaw:, 1946?, p.46