Korean 10-panel folding screen depicting episodes from the Five Confucian Virtues, $90,000 (£71,000) at Neal Auction Company.
The decoration comprises 20 ink and colour on silk paintings on the theme of the Five Confucian Virtues.
These pictures share similarities with the didactic woodblock prints in the Oryun Haengsildo (Paintings of Five Moral Imperatives, published in 1797), which recounts 150 historical episodes of filial piety, loyalty, faithfulness and brotherly love.
The book was intended to help ordinary people understand the basic ethical virtues taught by Confucianism and inspire the values in children. Here the stories (lines from proverbs related to each virtue) are told in both Chinese characters and the Korean alphabet (Hanguel). The mounting style, with the paintings bordered by blue satin damask, is characteristic of the late Joseon period.
Korean 10-panel folding screen depicting episodes from the Five Confucian Virtues, $90,000 (£71,000) at Neal Auction Company.
Once deemed purely decorative, these screens are increasingly popular with South Korean nationals. Prices can now rival those for equivalent Chinese works.
This example sold in New Orleans is thought to have come from the Deep South estate of an intelligence officer working in the Far East.
Estimated at $600-800 at the auction on February 20-21, it hammered for $90,000 (£71,000).
