A MASSIVE KESI PANEL

18TH CENTURY

Details

A MASSIVE KESI PANEL
18TH CENTURY
The panel is finely woven in bright colors with a scene of Xiwangmu seated on a crane beside her attendants seated on clouds, as they descend to meet Shoulao and various immortals below who are gathered on a terrace, on boats in the river, and standing on the riverbank. The upper section is woven with a broad panel of eighty four gold shou characters, beside a four-character inscription which reads baishou quantu, all encircled by a border of 'antiques', and beneath a further panel of dragons emerging from waves amidst phoenix centered by a four-character seal mark which reads longzhang fenggao ('praise from the Emperor and Empress').
122 ¼ x 44 ¾ in. (310.5 x 113.6 cm.)

Lot Essay

The scene on this kesi panel depicts the birthday celebration of Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West. A closely related silk kesi panel, but with a gold background, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji - Gongyi Meishu Bian, vol. 7, Beijing, 1987, pl. 179. The Palace Museum example is lacking the upper border of shou characters and dragon and phoenix, but has a similarly-worked scene of Xiwangmu descending on a crane, to greet immortals waiting on the riverscape below.

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