A RARE AND UNUSUAL LARGE IMPERIAL THREAD-WRAPPED BAMBOO BLIND

Details
A RARE AND UNUSUAL LARGE IMPERIAL THREAD-WRAPPED BAMBOO BLIND
18TH CENTURY

Of rectangular shape with the widest side at the top, composed of joined panels of horizontally arranged, thin bamboo slats bordered by lacquered wood frames at the top and bottom, decorated with multi-colored silk threads wrapped around each of the individual slats to compose an overall design of a central red bat suspending a jeweled disc, (bi), enclosed by angular, blue scrolls, interlocked with ruyi heads, against a backround of composite floral scroll incorporating peony, lotus and chrysanthemum picked out in paler tones of green, cream and yellow, all within a blue key-fret border at the edges, with cloth backing
113¾ x 57½in. (288.8 x 145.4cm.)

Lot Essay

No other blind of such massive size in this extraordinary technique appears to be published

Compare two vertical bamboo blinds (from a set of five), dated to the Qing dynasty, decorated in the same technique, depicting cranes and phoenix amidst flowers and fruit in a more traditional hanging scroll format, included in the exhibition, Min Shin no Bijutsu (Art of the Ming and Qing Dynasty), Osaka Municipal Art Museum, 1980, Catalogue, p. 59, no. 3-31. The design of the present example appears to be based on schemes found on contemporary rugs or textiles. See, for example, the large kesi panel (340 x 165 cm.), dated to the mid-18th century, with a similar design of lotus scroll intertwined with angular scroll motif, included in the inaugural exhibition, Images of Faith, John Eskenzi Ltd., London, May 25-June 23, 1995, illustrated in the Catalogue, pp. 52 and 53, no. 50. The decoration on the kesi panel is more densely arranged, which may suggest an earlier date for the blind