Page 293 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1970.20.4
Coromandel Screen

Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (dated 1690)
Carved and painted lacquer on wood,
x
5
(each of twelve panels) 266.7 49-9 (105 x i9 /s)
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
INSCRIPTIONS
(see below) to whom the screen was dedicated. The individual char-
acters, like the designs on the front, were carved into the
TECHNICAL NOTES lacquer down to the gesso ground, and reveal traces of
The screen is in good condition overall. The lacquer surface has gold pigment. The panel is bounded at either end by
a widespread crackle pattern, and there are occasional cracked smaller panels with landscapes, scholarly implements
areas and old repairs.
and archaic bronzes, flowers and birds, and the figures of
the poets Tao Qian and Meng Haoran, identified respec-
PROVENANCE 3
Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York. tively by a willow tree, and a mule and plum blossoms.
The Coromandel Coast of southeast India was a major
trading center from the seventeenth through the nine-
HIS ENORMOUS COROMANDEL LACQUER SCREEN is one 4
Tof the few dated examples known in the world. It teenth century. It was not until the early twentieth cen-
was made in 1690 as a birthday gift for an official named tury, however, that the term was used to describe this type
Pan Quisheng, who served at the time as Prefect of of carved and lacquered furniture. Before this, such
1
Huzhou in Zhejiang Province. The screen is composed objects were generally described in Europe as "India
of a pair of six-fold screens designed to stand side by work" or "Bantam work," the latter term referring to a port
side, with contiguous decoration. Screens of this type on the north coast of Java that was an early trading center
were made in Beijing, Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Fuzhou. 2 for the Dutch and British East India Companies, 5 from
The front is taken up by a large carved and painted rec- which such Chinese screens were shipped to Europe.
tangular panel, surrounded on all four sides by smaller Coromandel screens were made of heavy wooden pan-
els that were hinged together so that they could be folded
panels. The carved areas are filled with blue, green, red,
yellow, white, and gold pigments. The large panel depicts up and stored in a compact, accordionlike manner. The
numerous immortals gathered together in a Daoist par- wooden boards were covered with layers of gesso, which
adise. Among clouds at the upper left are the first sage of were covered with successive layers of black, brown, or red
Daoism, Laozi, riding an ox, and a standing male figure, lacquer. Designs were then carved through the lacquer
probably Dongwanggong (Lord Duke of the East), sur- surface, down to the layers of gesso, and the carved areas
6
rounded by attendants. In the upper left are Chang E, the filled with oil pigments. This technique is described in
moon goddess, standing and holding the elixir of immor- detail in A Treatise of Japanning and Varnishing, published
tality, and Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West, in a in London by John Stalker and George Parker in 1688, a
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chariot pulled by a horned mythical beast; both were practical guide for lacquer artisans.
capable of bestowing longevity and immortality on mor- The earliest known carved Coromandel lacquer screen
tals. Elsewhere in this paradise are the Eight Immortals, is dated 8 1659, during the Shunzhi reign of the early Qing
Shou Lao (the God of Longevity), and Zhou-dynasty dynasty. While the majority of early examples appear to
immortal Wang Ziqiao, riding on a crane and playing the have been made for the domestic Chinese market, many
sheng, or bamboo mouth organ. The scene is replete with were also exported to Europe, beginning in the i68os. An
symbols of longevity, including the peaches of immortal- example at Erthig Park, Denbighshire, Wales, is known to
ity that grow in Xiwangmu's paradise on Mount Kunlun, have been presented to Joshua Edisbury by the East India
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the Hngzhi (fungus of immortality), cranes, and deer. Company merchant Elihu Yale in i682. Following the
The smaller scenes around the sides of the large paradise reign of Kangxi (1662-1722), the majority of Coromandel
scene depict mythological and auspicious beasts and the screens appear to have been made for export.
flowers of the twelve months, interspersed with roundels A similar example, also dated 1690, is now in the
containing cranes and characters reading shou (longevity). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; another simi-
On the back of the screen is a long inscription, written lar, though undated, example is in the Museum of Fine
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in standard script (kaishu) y which recounts the scholarly Arts, Boston.
and official accomplishments of Yan Wosi, the gentleman SL

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