Antique Japanese Wooden Relief early 1900-1910 Liberty & Co

This beautiful Wooden Relief of tropical hardwood was a table top of what was once the top of a Japanese table. Long ago someone made a standing panel from the table top.

This table top has the typical Japanese design of The "three wise monkeys" representing the proverb "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." in combination with Bonzai branches of a pine tree. It is rare that this beautiful piece of wood carving is lacquered. I have not come across that before.

Dimensions are 45.5x45.5x2.2cm.

These table tops were hand carved by skilled Japanese craftsmen in the early twentieth century. They were often made to order by Liberty & Co as part of their Japanese range of furniture when there was a lot of demand for it (see photo of catalogue).

The various parts of the table were numbered (see photo) and packed unassembled which made transport from Japan easier. At the "Eastern Bazaar" in Liberty's Regent Street headquarters in London, the parts were collected and assembled before they were sold in the store.