18TH CENTURY

The Chinese term for this kind of carved lacquer, as used in the Xiuxi lu, published in the 16th century, is kuancai (polychrome carving), and was described as a kind of woodblock carving with filled-in, gold and painted colors. According to Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, p. 260, the term coromandel, has been in use in Europe since the 16th century and is derived from the so-called Coromandel Coast, a trading center in southeast India, but the term was not originally used to describe lacquer. The earliest reference to 'Coromandel lacquer' in English appears to be in 1913, in a catalogue of an exhibition of Chinese art in Manchester, England. According to R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Art II, New York, 1980 rev. ed., p. 231, carved lacquer screens were not originally made for the European market, but became a popular export during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.