A Pair of Chinese Ruanmu Hua Cork Carving Dioramas

A pair of mid-to-late 20th-century Chinese Ruanmu Hua (cork carving) dioramas. Each diorama depicts an intricate miniature landscape featuring a traditional tiered pagoda or pavilion set amongst a rocky outcrop with various trees, including pines and weeping willows. The scenes are further detailed with small white figures representing cranes. The carvings are mounted on circular, black-lacquered wooden bases and protected by removable glass cloches. The underside of each base features a printed paper label with the Chinese characters 中国福建制造 and the English text MADE IN FUJIAN, CHINA. One label is printed with ART. NO. 1106, while the second label is partially obscured. These objects are typical of Chinese export handicrafts from the Fujian province.