Lot Essay
Coromandel lacquer screens with identifiable landscapes are quite rare. Cf. two similar screen also depicting the West Lake, the first in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, with eight views of West Lake, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Lacquerware, p. 183, no. 177; and the other sold in New York, 2 June 1993, lot 508. The West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, is well-known for its picturesque scenery; its stunning lakescapes provided much inspiration for mid-Ming paintings particularly among a group of Suzhou literati painters, lead by the influential Shen Zhou (1427-1509).
The present lot is quite remarkable in its rich and varied portrayal of birds and flowers, rarely so vividly depicted in this medium. Two other coromandel lacquer screens decorated with this subject matter are published: the first, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo Gudai Qiqi (Ancient Chinese Lacquer Ware), pl. 72; and the other is illustrated by Spink & Sons, Ltd. The Minor Arts of China IV, April 1989, Catalogue, no. 7.
Folding screens decorated in the coromandel manner were much in demand in 17th and 18th century Europe. While they were not originally intended for the West, large numbers of these decorative items were exported to Europe between 1600 and 1820. The term 'coromandel' derived from the coromandel coast of India, and was used by recorders of the day to describe items originating from the 'Indies' which included pieces from India, China and Japan.
(US$45,000-70,000)
The present lot is quite remarkable in its rich and varied portrayal of birds and flowers, rarely so vividly depicted in this medium. Two other coromandel lacquer screens decorated with this subject matter are published: the first, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo Gudai Qiqi (Ancient Chinese Lacquer Ware), pl. 72; and the other is illustrated by Spink & Sons, Ltd. The Minor Arts of China IV, April 1989, Catalogue, no. 7.
Folding screens decorated in the coromandel manner were much in demand in 17th and 18th century Europe. While they were not originally intended for the West, large numbers of these decorative items were exported to Europe between 1600 and 1820. The term 'coromandel' derived from the coromandel coast of India, and was used by recorders of the day to describe items originating from the 'Indies' which included pieces from India, China and Japan.
(US$45,000-70,000)