Page 318 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

and secured within the wooden frame; layers of
black and brown lacquer cover the frame and part
of the animals, while details of the carvings are
picked out in colors, including red, blue, silver-gray,
and yellow. Some of the colors have faded in the
years since the discovery of the screen, and the
original decoration probably included other pig-
ments that have not survived (though the date of
this screen coincides with the practice of mixing
pigments in oil — rather than directly into raw
lacquer — to ensure the stability of the color). The
level of the screen s artistry and craftsmanship is
representative of the works of art made for the elite
of the Chu kingdom, and even perhaps for members
of the royal family. AT

1 Excavated in 1965; published: Hubei 1966, 47, fig. 19; pis. 2
and 3; Juliano 1975; Hubei 1994, no. i; Hubei 1996, fig. 66,
color pi. 2 and pis. 33-34; Tokyo 19983, no. 28.
2 Thote 1993.
3 Jacobson 1988.

FIG. i. Cat. no: from
above; horizontal view;
from side; from below.
Adapted from Hubei 1996,
94- fig. 66.

317 | CHU L A C Q U E R S FROM HUBE I