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Lot Essay
This exceptional screen has a masterfully carved base and frame of hardwood, and a magnificent pictorial panel created with carved and applied elements in painted ivory and wood. The scene depicted on the screen is the famous Palace of Xi Wangmu (the Queen Mother of the West), which legend says is high in the Kunlun Mountains, overlooking the Kingfisher River.
Xi Wangmu is a Daoist deity, who was believed to be attended by 'jade maidens' dressed in differently coloured robes to accord with the colours associated with the points of the compass. Her palace is known for its size and beauty, and for its gardens in which grew a fabulous peach tree. This tree, which can clearly be seen to the left of the steps on the screen, bore magical peaches, which took 3,000 years to ripen, but which conferred immortality upon anyone who ate them. Specifically the screen shows the banquet that was held when the peaches had ripened. This event was proclaimed Xi Wangmu's birthday and all the immortals were invited to the Pantao hui (Feast of Peaches) to celebrate by the eating of exotic delicacies and by enjoying musical performances. The screen shows Xi Wangmu seated on the terrace with 'jade maidens' holding peacock fans behind her. She waits to greet the immortals who are shown arriving from all over China to offer felicitations on her birthday.
This screen was in all probability made in the Guangdong area and given to the Emperor as a tribute. The furniture industry in Guangdong was closely related to the styles of Suzhou and Yangzhou in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but had its own distinct local features. All Guangdong furniture was made from imported hardwood such as zitan, huali, jichimu or, as is the case with the present lot, hongmu. The choice of wood, with its natural deep reddish-brown tone, would have been chosen to enhance the 'floating' sense of this celestial scene. The frame is very finely carved in relief designs. The use of carved jichimu appliqués to create depth and layers is also a very Guangdong feature.
A standing screen in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which depicts one hundred luohan in a landscape scene, is very similarly decorated using carved jichimu and ivory (fig.1). It also shares with the current screen the same form and size. However, it is not of the same quality in excution, and in its imaginative and lyrical composition. The Palace screen is inscribed with an Imperial inscription, and is proof that this present screen would have furnished the Imperial Palaces. The remarkable carving on the current screen captures the grandeur both of the palace and of the mountains which tower above it, while the Qianlong emperor, for whom it was no doubt made, would also have appreciated its central theme of celestial celebration and longevity.
Xi Wangmu is a Daoist deity, who was believed to be attended by 'jade maidens' dressed in differently coloured robes to accord with the colours associated with the points of the compass. Her palace is known for its size and beauty, and for its gardens in which grew a fabulous peach tree. This tree, which can clearly be seen to the left of the steps on the screen, bore magical peaches, which took 3,000 years to ripen, but which conferred immortality upon anyone who ate them. Specifically the screen shows the banquet that was held when the peaches had ripened. This event was proclaimed Xi Wangmu's birthday and all the immortals were invited to the Pantao hui (Feast of Peaches) to celebrate by the eating of exotic delicacies and by enjoying musical performances. The screen shows Xi Wangmu seated on the terrace with 'jade maidens' holding peacock fans behind her. She waits to greet the immortals who are shown arriving from all over China to offer felicitations on her birthday.
This screen was in all probability made in the Guangdong area and given to the Emperor as a tribute. The furniture industry in Guangdong was closely related to the styles of Suzhou and Yangzhou in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but had its own distinct local features. All Guangdong furniture was made from imported hardwood such as zitan, huali, jichimu or, as is the case with the present lot, hongmu. The choice of wood, with its natural deep reddish-brown tone, would have been chosen to enhance the 'floating' sense of this celestial scene. The frame is very finely carved in relief designs. The use of carved jichimu appliqués to create depth and layers is also a very Guangdong feature.
A standing screen in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which depicts one hundred luohan in a landscape scene, is very similarly decorated using carved jichimu and ivory (fig.1). It also shares with the current screen the same form and size. However, it is not of the same quality in excution, and in its imaginative and lyrical composition. The Palace screen is inscribed with an Imperial inscription, and is proof that this present screen would have furnished the Imperial Palaces. The remarkable carving on the current screen captures the grandeur both of the palace and of the mountains which tower above it, while the Qianlong emperor, for whom it was no doubt made, would also have appreciated its central theme of celestial celebration and longevity.