557.Antique Chinese Ancestor Memorial Tablet

Early Red & Gold Soul Tablet

Tablets such as these were used by Chinese in southern China in household shrines and clan temples to memorialise the dead.

This example indicates in Classical Chinese script (Gǔwén) that the deceased person died during the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1711-1799).

Of red and gold painted carved pinewood or similar, this is a fine example with a lovely patina. The top section is carved with a prominent gilded dragon. (The carved ridge directly above the dragon has some old chips.) Dragons are also carved along the edging of the tablet which features in Chinese script the name of the deceased.

In this example, the tablet pulls away from the base and then splits in two revealing three and then five further columns of Gǔwén script inside.