Page 222 - Sotheby's Chinese Art and Porcelain Auction New York September 12, 2018

288

WORKS OF ART SOLD TO BENEFIT THE BERKSHIRE
MUSEUM
A TEN-PANEL COROMANDEL ‘BIRTHDAY’
SCREEN
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD, DATED JISI
YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1689
the rectangular panels forming a continuous composition,
the front with carved polychrome decoration depicting a
joyous gathering of the Daoist pantheon within the fantastic
setting of the Turquoise Pond, Yaochi, on the paradisiacal
Mount Kunlun, the rolling waves of the pond shown cresting
as the numerous immortals ascend on their way towards
a rocky grotto and the God of Longevity, Shou Lao sitting
in anticipation of the celebratory event, as Xiwangmu, the
Queen Mother of the West and her jade maidens approach
from the upper left along with a host of celestial female
musicians, the scene enclosed by a band of alternating
wanzi-Þ lled lozenges and roundels with cranes or shou
characters, a four-clawed dragon pursuing a ‘ß aming pearl’
at each end of the screen, a border of ß owers above and a
border of mythical beasts below, the reverse painted with gilt
inscriptions honoring the birthday of a high o' cial named
Wang, surrounded by a red and gilt keyfret band, a wide
border painted with the ‘Hundred Antiques’, and an outer
border of scrolling lotus in gilt polychrome, all against a black
lacquer ground, a red-lacquer scrolling apron between the
feet
Height 94⅝ in., 240.5 cm; Width of each panel 20 in., 50.8
cm
EXHIBITED
Berkshire Museum, PittsÞ eld, MA.
The term ‘Coromandel’ refers to the name given to the south
eastern Indian coast (today forming part of the present-day
states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), where Europeans
established trading posts in the late 16th and 17th centuries,
and Chinese junks docked to transfer lacquerwares to
European vessels. The technique refers to a type of lacquer
known as ke hui (literally ‘incised ash’), consisting of a
smooth surface in which designs were carved out and
colored with oil or lacquer pigments. They are believed to
have been principally manufactured in Fujian province south
of Shanghai to serve the domestic market and were aimed
at a* uent merchants and civil servants, who aspired to the
inlaid lacquer screens produced in the imperial workshops.
Most screens of the period feature twelve rather than ten
panels, however, the dated inscription on the present screen
indicates it was privately commissioned on the occasion of
a signiÞ cant birthday. An example of a twelve panel screen
dated to 1693 sold in our London rooms, 8th November
2017, lot 38 and another but also depicting a ‘Daoist
Pantheon’ dated to 1700 also in our London rooms, 15th May
2013, lot 342.

$ 80,000-120,000
㶭⹟䅁⶙⶛⸜ġĩ1689⸜Īġġġ檡㺮≈⼑佌ẁ䤅⢥⚾
⋩㇯⯷桐
˪⶙⶛㬚⬇䥳㚰˫㫦
࢝ᚎ
ỗ⃳悉⌂䈑棐炻䙖勐厚䇦⽟炻湣䚩

220 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART