Page 109 - Art D'Asie Paris
P. 109

L arge Chinese Coromandel screens, named after           For examples on blue ground in the collections of the
                                                         Palace Museum in Bejing, see Furniture of the Ming
entrepot on the coast of India, were fashionable gifts   and Qing Dynasties (II) in The Complete Collection of
both at home and abroad in the 17th century. For         Treasures of the Palace Museum, The Commercial Press,
the domestic market, they were commissioned and          Hong Kong, 2002, p. 214-17. Another example in the
displayed for special occasions and the current example  collections of Musée Guimet in Paris shows a similar
is a fne illustration of that feature. This screen was   composition (MA 12218 A).
commissioned by a high oficial in the Ministry of
Revenue named Yu for another male family member’s
birthday, and possibly paraded at the said event.
This celebratory theme repeats itself throughout the
screen’s decoration, a rare scene on blue ground. It
shows a festive but elegant gathering where a learned
man’s interests were manifested from music to go, and
symbols of harmony and fortune also mingled.

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