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Lot Essay
Kuancai (incised and polychrome lacquer), also known as kehui (“carved ash”), is a distinctive Chinese lacquer technique used primarily on monumental furnishings such as folding screens. Designs were carved through a black lacquer ground and filled with coloured pigments, creating the richly polychromed and deeply textured surfaces characteristic of the finest examples. In European trade, such works were first known as “Bantam work,” after the Javanese port of Bantam, a major seventeenth-century entrepôt through which Asian luxury goods passed into European markets. By the eighteenth century, the term “Coromandel lacquer” had come into use, derived from the Coromandel Coast of India, another key export route for these screens. In 1728, the English encyclopedist Ephraim Chambers described this lacquer as “a kind of Indian painting and engraving on wood, resembling Japanese work but more lively,” a vivid early European response to its brilliance and exotic appeal.
The reverse of this present monumental twelve-panel screen bears an inscription dated Kangxi yuannian renyin ju yue shou ri : “A birthday day in the Chrysanthemum Month, first year of Kangxi, cyclical renyin”, corresponding to the ninth lunar month of 1662, and recording the birthday celebration of Commander Wang (a military general), for whom the screen was made as a commemorative presentation. Significantly, the designation Kangxi yuannian and the cyclical date renyin appear together in accordance with calendrical conventions recorded in the Qing Shixian li, while Juyue (“Chrysanthemum Month”) is a poetic designation for the ninth lunar month in traditional usage. The inscription thus provides a rare and precise date of manufacture, firmly situating the screen at the very beginning of the Kangxi reign.
The principal decoration on the front depicts the auspicious theme of bainiao chaofeng (“One Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix”), long associated with imperial and elite decorative arts of the Qing dynasty. At the centre, two phoenixes appear either facing one another or in paired flight, emblematic of harmony, prosperity, and universal peace. To one side, a white eagle is rendered in a dynamic pose; as ying (eagle) is homophonous with ying (“heroic” or “outstanding”), it conveys connotations of distinction and merit.
Several pheasants further enrich the scene, carrying a layered play on words and symbolism. The bird (ji) echoes ji (“auspicious”), offering a direct wish for good fortune. More specifically, the pheasant, often identified with the “golden pheasant” (jinji), was the emblem of high ranking civil officials in Ming and Qing court dress. Its presence here therefore extends beyond decoration, suggesting aspirations of rank, honour, and official distinction. When read alongside the eagle, the pairing conveys a refined compliment: heroic achievement joined with status and success. Opposite, cranes stand or dance gracefully, traditional symbols of longevity, reinforcing the birthday context and forming an auspicious combination of longevity and advancement.
These birds are set within a luxuriant garden landscape of scholar’s rocks and flowering plants, while, strikingly, rolling ocean waves surge across the foreground. This juxtaposition of garden and sea evokes the well known blessing fu ru donghai (“May your happiness be as vast as the Eastern Sea”), and may also allude to the recipient’s achievements in coastal defence. The composition is dense yet carefully balanced, and its rich palette and intricate detailing exemplify the characteristic splendour of early Qing kuancai screens.
Monumental twelve-panel screens of this type were often commissioned as prestigious birthday gifts for high-ranking officials, serving both as functional furnishings and as vehicles of ceremonial praise. The inscription on the reverse was composed by Xiao Zhen, a jinshi graduate of 1652 and censor with responsibilities including maritime defense and regional supervision, who refers to himself as tongjia juandi (“your younger kinsman by longstanding family friendship”), indicating a close hereditary bond with the recipient.
The reverse of this present monumental twelve-panel screen bears an inscription dated Kangxi yuannian renyin ju yue shou ri : “A birthday day in the Chrysanthemum Month, first year of Kangxi, cyclical renyin”, corresponding to the ninth lunar month of 1662, and recording the birthday celebration of Commander Wang (a military general), for whom the screen was made as a commemorative presentation. Significantly, the designation Kangxi yuannian and the cyclical date renyin appear together in accordance with calendrical conventions recorded in the Qing Shixian li, while Juyue (“Chrysanthemum Month”) is a poetic designation for the ninth lunar month in traditional usage. The inscription thus provides a rare and precise date of manufacture, firmly situating the screen at the very beginning of the Kangxi reign.
The principal decoration on the front depicts the auspicious theme of bainiao chaofeng (“One Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix”), long associated with imperial and elite decorative arts of the Qing dynasty. At the centre, two phoenixes appear either facing one another or in paired flight, emblematic of harmony, prosperity, and universal peace. To one side, a white eagle is rendered in a dynamic pose; as ying (eagle) is homophonous with ying (“heroic” or “outstanding”), it conveys connotations of distinction and merit.
Several pheasants further enrich the scene, carrying a layered play on words and symbolism. The bird (ji) echoes ji (“auspicious”), offering a direct wish for good fortune. More specifically, the pheasant, often identified with the “golden pheasant” (jinji), was the emblem of high ranking civil officials in Ming and Qing court dress. Its presence here therefore extends beyond decoration, suggesting aspirations of rank, honour, and official distinction. When read alongside the eagle, the pairing conveys a refined compliment: heroic achievement joined with status and success. Opposite, cranes stand or dance gracefully, traditional symbols of longevity, reinforcing the birthday context and forming an auspicious combination of longevity and advancement.
These birds are set within a luxuriant garden landscape of scholar’s rocks and flowering plants, while, strikingly, rolling ocean waves surge across the foreground. This juxtaposition of garden and sea evokes the well known blessing fu ru donghai (“May your happiness be as vast as the Eastern Sea”), and may also allude to the recipient’s achievements in coastal defence. The composition is dense yet carefully balanced, and its rich palette and intricate detailing exemplify the characteristic splendour of early Qing kuancai screens.
Monumental twelve-panel screens of this type were often commissioned as prestigious birthday gifts for high-ranking officials, serving both as functional furnishings and as vehicles of ceremonial praise. The inscription on the reverse was composed by Xiao Zhen, a jinshi graduate of 1652 and censor with responsibilities including maritime defense and regional supervision, who refers to himself as tongjia juandi (“your younger kinsman by longstanding family friendship”), indicating a close hereditary bond with the recipient.