CHINE, FIN DE LA DYNASTIE QING (1644-1912)

Details

PARAVENT A DOUZE FEUILLES EN BOIS ET PANNEAUX EN SOIE TISSEE (KESI)
CHINE, FIN DE LA DYNASTIE QING (1644-1912)
L'avers de chaque feuille en bois, sculpté dans la partie supérieure d'un motif ajouré de deux dragons affrontés parmi des feuillages, la partie inférieure rehaussée d'un panneau sculpté en bas relief de motifs de dragons archaïsants, les panneaux centraux en kesi à décor de scènes de personnages divers (dignitaires, serviteurs, guerriers, enfants...) organisées autour d'un grand pavillon central abritant un couple de personnes âgées, le tout dans des paysages montagneux, jardins fleuris, pavillons et terrasses sur fond doré rehaussé de papillons, oiseaux et fleurs
Dimensions d'une feuille: 212,5 x 42 cm. (83 5/8 x16½ in.)

Provenance

From an old German collection. Acquired before 1911 in Beijing

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT payable at 19.6% (5.5% for books) will be added to the buyer’s premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Further details

A TWELVE FOLD WOOD SCREEN WITH WOVEN SILK (KESI) PANELS
CHINA, LATE QING DYNASTY (1644-1912)

Lot Essay

Screens with a variety of decoration, inset with paintings, textured paper, lacquer panels and textiles were used in China as partition walls or geshan in houses and palaces. The kesi panels of the present lot fit within the tradition of the Qianlong Emperor (1736-1795) court workshops, which produced a wide range of luxury textile pictures for the decoration of the emperor's private residences. These in turn are linked to the practice of copying paintings in fine woven or embroidered textiles that can be traced to the collecting activities of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) emperors, who established textiles as a category of art works. The time consuming kesi or slit and dove-tail silk tapestry technique is a tour de force of the weavers craft.
Many of such screens are illustrated in the Illustrated catalogue of the Architecture and Decoration of the Imperial Palace, Interior Design, Beijing, 1995, pp. 126-177.

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