Page 82 - Sotheby's Paris Arts D' Asia, June 11, 2019

Landscape-themed screens often depict well-known scenes of visited and admired the lake in the late 13th century, as did
China, such as the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, The Ibn Battuta, the great Berber explorer, in 1346. The lake
Nine Bends of Wuyi River, and in the case of the present lot, a had a circumference of 15 kilometres and was flanked by
view of the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. mountains on one side and by the city on the other. In order
to regulate the flow of water the lake was divided into three
Nicole Brugier notes in Les Laques de Coromandel, Paris, parts by two dikes and six bridges, all of which bear or bore
2015, that “Hangzhou was a popular tourist destination in poetic names. There are also four islands, on which were
China since time immemorial. Hangzhou is the capital of
Zhejiang province, situated 200 km south- west of Shanghai. built summer pavilions, such as The Island of The Three
From 1127 to 1279 it was the capital of the Southern Song Lakes and The Island of The Reflection of the Moon. Some of
Dynasty and was famous for its beauty. The old city was the original pagodas still survive, together with the temple
of the “Needle”. The wall seen at the bottom of this screen
built alongside the West Lake, and in the 14th century had
the largest population in the world and was a famous site is no longer in existence. This great city was once known for
for tourism. It was considered to be the place of retreat the magnificence of its public buildings, for the beauty of its
for retired civil servants, who engaged in meditation, bridges, its triumphal arches, and for its great number of
canals.”, ibid., pp. 120-126.
chrysanthemum cultivation or cricket breeding. Marco Polo

80 SOTHEBY’S ARTS D’ASIE