TimeOut

Years ago I paneled my entire office with antique Chinese doors and decorative trim I won at a local auction. On one of the panels there's a very small inscription that I've always wondered about. It's difficult to get a decent photo because of the many l...  

Jokes aside, i cannot! Sorry matey I am sure, some of our Asian friends can help here. Just give them some time to reply. Cheers

Good luck figuring out what it means

I'm not sure what that inscription means, but what an office!

She says it looks like it starts off with a year, followed by "given to the palace." She said the inscription might be related to a story the carving on the panel is showing, but she's not sure.

Twenty panels, plus the large decorative piece above the chair. My winning bid was $250 total. No one bid because no one knew what they would do with them. In fact I wasn't sure how I would use them either but bid on them anyway. My wife suggested using t... 

What a charming space they create

Apparently, 元年 refers to the first year of an emperor's reign. 近宮 I presume means he entered the palace? Ymmv.

However, not sure what that means. Very cool panels by the way.

It means enter the palace. Colloquially, it can also mean enter a jail.

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Sorry for the double post. just saw the post above so edited to say I agree with it. (I had a super long response that didn't make nearly as much sense once there other poster wrote out the characters 😂). Fun times trying to dredge up my classical Chinese... 

I think the first characters are an archaic form of first year.

Wow, that is some office, do you get any work done with all the distractions? It looks like a place that I would happily visit and talk watches over a drink.

Since I'm retired it really isn't used as much as an office as it is just a place to relax.

Love the group input to solve the puzzle. And educational too.

. . . "Made in USA", but then, my Mandarin is spotty.