My grandparents collected Asian art and artifacts -- mother-of-pearl inlaid chairs; a very heavy, gorgeous jade horse that is now my mother's prized possession that we "kids" love to move around the house irreverently, making her very nervous. (Oh God... Where's the Jade Horse!!! It's been taken!!)
My grandparents also had a beautiful Chinese screen much like this one, above, which I ogled the other day in the booth of local vintage maven, Achlee Wise. This screen, unlike my grandparents' (which is covered with a scene of a dragon parade in front of a temple), is so spare and quiet. Just perfect. I think I love best that the water is a stony gray, unmoving, though it's the fluid thing. It's a wonderful comfounding of expectations.