KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

Details

A MAGNIFICENT TWELVE-FOLD COROMANDEL LACQUER SCREEN
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
The screen is carved with a procession of warriors and equestrian figures, some carrying banners, others bearing gifts, journeying through a mountainous, rocky landscape towards a high-ranking dignatory flanked by his attendants, next to a raised terrace with a pair of white elephants, the scene bordered with panels of flowers including prunus, chrysanthemum and peonies. The reverse is carved with scholars travelling within a mountainous landscape with a large lake with bridges, pavilions and islands within a border of scholars' objects and mythical beasts.
245 ¼ in. x 102 3/8 in. (623 cm. x 260 cm.), overall
Each panel 102 3/8 in. x 20 in. (260 cm. x 51 cm.)

Provenance

Property from a private Amercian collector, Lynn Wolfson, acquired in the 1950s.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice. Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square ( ¦ ) not collected from Christie’s, 8 King Street, London SW1Y 6QT by 5.00pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Crozier Park Royal (details below). Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite.If the lot is transferred to Crozier Park Royal, it will be available for collection from 12.00pm on the second business day following the sale.Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Crozier Park Royal. All collections from Crozier Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only.Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com.If the lot remains at Christie’s, 8 King Street, it will be available for collection on any working day (not weekends) from 9.00am to 5.00pm

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Kate Hunt Director, Head of Department

khunt@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7752 3389

Lot Essay

Coromandel lacquer, or kuancai, emerged in the 16th century in China aimed at the domestic market. It was a new innovation and a challenge for Chinese lacquer craftsmen to produce large and highly decorative screens more economically, in order to replace the very expensive and labour-intensive lacquer screens decorated with mother-of-pearl inlays. The borders of the present screen may be stylistically compared with the twelve-panel Coromandel lacquer screen from the Kangxi period in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by W. De Kesel and G. Dhont in Coromandel Lacquer Screens, ill. 23, pps 36-37. Similarly, some of the scenes on the reverse of the present screen bear comparsion to the screen in the Asian Art Musuem of San Francisco decorated with the "Eight Views of Hangzhou", and illustrated in the same publication, ill. 47, p 71.

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