Page 115 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK
P. 115
ㆸˤ圁圈⛐㶭ẋ℟㚱䈡㬲䘬⛘ỵ冯ἄ䓐炻⚈℞冯ˬ䤷˭媏枛炻 The lower “skirt” section of the screen is lacquered with gilt and
㓭⍿㺧㕷Ṣ䘬曺䜆冯╄㬉炻⛐⼰⣂☐䈑冯丒䔓ᷕ悥㚱圁圈 gilt and polychrome. Each panel depicts a flower basket at the
䘬⼊尉ˤ曰剅㗗⎌ẋ⁛婒ᷕ䘬ẁ勱炻℟㚱攟⢥䘬シ佑炻Ḵ侭 centre surrounded by an ascending and descending bats in flight,
䳬ㆸˬ䤷⢥䵧攟˭䘬⎱䤍⚾㟰炻㔜ᾳ䔓朊℟㚱╄ㄞ⎱䤍䘬䈡 amidst a dense ground of lingzhi scrolls. During the Qing dynasty,
溆ˤ℞㺮ⶍ喅㍉䓐䘬㗗ẍ慹刚⊦≺䲳梦䘬廒炻ẍ䲭刚慹 bats were popularly applied because of their auspicious association
刚⟿梦剙䲳䘬 㱽炻Ḵ刚Ṍ䚠廅㗈炻Ṗ渿愺䚖ˤ℞䶂㡅攟䞕 with the homophone for ‘fortune’. As such bats were popular
ᶵᶨ炻㍷梦㸾䡢⇘ỵ炻ᶨ䴚ᶵ劇ˤ䲳梦晾䁢♜㟤䘬⮵䧙⼊⺷炻 with the Manchu. Lingzhi, on the other hand, has a legendary
⌣䃉⏮㜧ᷳ㯋ˤ⯷桐側朊⍲㬋朊墁㜧ℙ㚱⋩Ḵ朊䚠⎴䘬湹㺮 association with immortality and was regarded as an auspicious
㍷慹墅梦ˤẍ卲䒋⼊ἄ攳炻ℏ丒㬋朊⛀漵ᶨ㡅炻漵䘤⼴㉓炻 image for longevity. The bats and lingzhi form Fushou Mianchang,
Ụ㚱≩桐⛐⏡≽烊Ḵ䚖⚻䜄炻䁗䁗㚱䤆烊漵䇒㚱≃炻⏰ᶲᶳ ‘Continuous Fortune and Longevity’. The lacquer decoration
ⶎ⎛Ự⯨ˤ漵様㕤㴟㯜㰇Ⲿᷳᶲ炻℞␐⚵塓䤍暚冯䈉ᷡˣ卲 relies on gilt lacquer as an outline and the application of a brighter
剙䑘丆ˤ攳⢾㍷梦忋临ᶵ㕟䘬拎䲳ˤ㍷丒㈨ⶏ⪣䅇炻䶂㡅 gilt colour as the infill. These two different tones of gilt provide
㳩㙊ᶵ㺗ˤ a sharper overall decoration. Even though the brush strokes are
of varied lengths, they are very precisely executed to provide a
娚⯷桐⛐墁㜧⯨悐怬墅梦Ḯ㔹䪡ˣ搚ⶍ喅ˤ㔹䪡⍰㚱㸀⤫ balanced composition. The reverse side is decorated with ten
䪡ᷳ伶⎵炻㗗ㆹ⚳⋿㕡䈡㚱䘬ᶨ䧖⣑䃞㢵䈑炻ᷣ天䓊⛐㳆⹕ full-front dragon panels, with two more repeated on either end of
㷾⏃ⰙⲞᶲ炻䓊慷Ỷ炻㤝䁢䍵屜ˤ the front facing side. Each of the dragons is portrayed with its
hair dishevelled as though it is caught in strong winds above waves
and amidst clouds, peony and chrysanthemum. The dragon’s eyes
are wide opened, the claws are stretched in all directions and it is
visually portrayed in a very strong stance. Each of the dragons is
placed within a roundel against a brocade ground.
㬌⯷桐䘬⎎ᶨ䌐䈡ᷳ嗽⛐㕤⯷㟮ᷳ攻䘬⎰枩炻忂ⷠ夳䘬⎰ The bamboo used on the screen is known as “Xiangfei” bamboo
枩⣏⣂䁢 180 ⹎㉀⎰炻侴㬌⯷桐⎰枩⇯⎗ 360 ⹎暁朊㉀⎰ˤ and it is only found in the south particularly on Jinshan Island
⽆㶭⭖怢⬀䘬⣏慷⯷桐䚳炻360 ⹎㉀⎰䘬⯷桐ᶵ⛐⮹㔠炻䃞 on the Dongting Lake. Their source is limited so this material is
⣏⣂䁢䳁䴡Ṍ⍱墙䱲炻ㆾ䴚丑Ṍ⍱忋㍍炻ἧ䓐 360 ⹎戭岒⎰ extremely precious.
枩侭㤝䁢⮹夳ˤ
Imperial screens are commonly found to be hinged to provide a 180
⽆娚⯷桐䘬忈✳ˣ丒䔓桐㟤ˣ䶁䴚䈡溆ˣ㺮☐⍲㔹䪡墥ἄⶍ degree angle. However, the present screen is brass hinged to allow a
喅䫱㕡朊䵄⎰↮㜸炻娚⯷桐䁢㶭⭖忈彎嗽墥ˤ忈彎嗽㗗⮰ 360 degree placement. This type of placement of screens is known
攨䁢䘯⭌ㆸ⒉墥ἄ⎬䧖䓇㳣䓐℟ˣ䥖₨℠䪈䓐⑩ˣ岆岄䓐⑩ but they are invariably all embellished using paper and silk.
䘬䘯⭞ⶍ⺈炻ℏ悐姕㚱ᶵ⎴䘬ˬἄ˭炻⌛↮ⶍ㖶䡢炻⍰Ḻ䚠
⎰ἄˤ⁷忁㧋ᶨẞ䓙⣂䧖ⶍ喅倂⎰侴ㆸ䘬⯷桐炻军⮹暨天ˬ㛐 This screen is undoubtedly made by the Zhaobanchu, imperial
ἄˣ䔓ἄˣ三ἄˣ㺮ἄˣ戭ἄ˭䫱ℙ⎴⬴ㆸˤ workshops based on the construction, painting style, the application
of kesi, the use of lacquer and the inclusion of bamboo veneer.
⯷桐㔜橼℟㚱⌛匲慵⣏㯋炻⍰厗渿屜䘬䘯⭞㯋㳦炻晾䃉㸾 Qing imperial workshops supplied great many secular and religious
䡢䲨⸜炻ṵ䁢ᶵ⎗⣂⼿䘬喅埻䍵⑩ˤ furnishings for the palaces as well as furnishings that were produced
as gifts. The workshops comprised of many different divisions
and a divided workforce that co-operated with each other in the
production of objects for the palaces. As such, this screen would
have required the co-operative work of the following divisions:
carpentry, painting, embroidery, lacquer and metalwork.
This magnificent large screen has an imposing presence and its
beautiful workmanship expresses a typical Qing imperial style.
Even though it is difficult to precisely date this screen, it is without
doubt a rare and highly treasured work of art.
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