Page 103 - March 17, 2020 Impotant Chinese Art, Sotheby's, New York

268 The present screen is a particularly fine when artisans took pains to individualize each and happy life. The birds on the reverse each
example of Coromandel screens carved element within a composition in order to make carry their own auspicious meanings, and the
PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN with ‘birthday’ and ‘hundred birds’ themes. the image as dynamic and immersive for the overall composition can be understood as the
A TWELVE-PANEL COROMANDEL On the principal side, no detail is spared in viewer as possible. ‘hundred birds courting the phoenix’ (bainiao
‘BIRTHDAY’ SCREEN the depiction of the figures, from the fine The primary image on the present screen chaohuang or bainiao chaofeng), or ‘hundred
patterning of the embroidery on their robes, to
birds paying homage to the king (bainiao
QING DYNASTY, 17TH / 18TH the subtle total contouring of their faces, and is that of Qunxian zhushou, the auspicious chaowang). Because phoenix only appear
CENTURY the variations in their gestures and expressions. occasion of the birthday of the Daoist God during peaceful reigns, it is closely connected
of Longevity, Shoulao. The theme originated
The same level of care is also lavished on the in plays from the Song dynasty and was a with the ruler, and in this motif it symbolizes the
each side richly carved and infilled with reverse, where each bird and flower comes to relationship between a ruler and his officials.
polychrome lacquers against a black ground, life in its vibrant colors, naturalistic movement, popular subject in Chinese art throughout the To the recipient of this screen, this imagery
the principal side dominated by a magnificent and integration with its environment. This Ming and Qing dynasties. The presence of would convey a wish for order and harmony,
scene of a Daoist immortals, officials, and level of detail is characteristic of Coromandel the Qunxian zhushou imagery suggests that which create the conditions for a peaceful and
supplicants traversing a celestial landscape screens made in the 17th and 18th century, the screen was made as a birthday gift, to prosperous life.
to pay tribute to Shoulao seated in a pavilion convey a wish that the recipient enjoy a long
at the center of the composition, the steps
of the pavilion opening onto a balustraded
garden filled with devotees approaching and
bearing gifts of peaches, amidst them a pair of
musicians playing the flute and castanets, an
attendant stoking a censer, and a pair of cranes
strutting, the grounds lined with groupings of
rocks, bamboo, and gnarled trees, to either
side of the compound additional immortals
arriving across a turbulent sea or aloft swirling
clouds, including Xiwangmu approaching on a
canopied chariot, Li Tieguai astride a crane and
brandishing an iron crutch with a double-gourd
fastened to it, Lan Caihe floating on a cloud with
a flower basket in hand and accompanied by a
deer carrying large peaches, and Liu Hai riding a
toad alongside Qin Gao on a carp, among other
figures from the Daoist pantheon, all framed
by a border of stylized dragons set between
‘landscape’ panels above and ‘mythical beast’
panels below and surrounded by a floral border
at the perimeter, the reverse with the ‘Hundred
Birds’ in a resplendent garden filled with flowers
of each season in bloom, in the center a pair of
massive phoenix fanning out their rich plumage
with magpies, cranes, pheasants, songbirds,
and other species perching or flying nearby,
bound by a floral border and surrounded by
further ‘bird and flower’ panels above and
below all within a further floral border, the legs
beneath each panel carved with an integral
trefoil-shaped apron
Each panel: Height 109 in., 277 cm;
Width 19¼ in., 49 cm

⊖ $ 60,000-80,000

清十七 / 十八世紀 髹漆加彩群仙
祝壽圖十二扇屏風

202 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10644 203