A Twelve-panel Screen

A Twelve-panel Screen
grooved wood en relief, fully coated with brown lacquer, polychrome and gilt decoration with hand paintings "Birthday Celebration during the Ming Dynasty"
bordure with "Animals" and "Fortune symbols", back with inscriptions in Chinese characters and "Oriental landscapes with figures and animals"
Kangxi period (1662-1722)
small restoration, minor faults on the lacquering
signed, marked
Dim. - (cada folha) 238 x 46 cm; (total) 238 x 552 cm
Notes: A TWELVE-PANEL CHINESE COROMANDEL DEPICTING A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION DURING THE MING DYNASTY -
QING DYNASTY KANGXI PERIOD 1662-1723
清康熙 款彩十二页恩荣九锡“贺寿图“屏风

The hinged panels are carved with a continuous and lively scene with the title of “En Rong Jiu Xi 恩荣九锡 ”. A standing minister in a majestic pavilion being entertained and receiving high rank scholars and generals bearing tribute. “Jiu xi” was an honorable title, established since the Han period, to classify a noble or a politician at the highest level. “En Rong” means the honor and grace that the Emperor gives to inferiors.


The screen displays a rich architectural view surrounded by traditional gardens, showing pine trees, weeping willows, maple trees, banana trees and Taihu stones. On the left side, court ladies watching the ducks in a pond with lotus. On the right side, new guests coming through the main entrance door welcomed by two lion dogs. In the middle of the scene, musicians playing the festival atmosphere.

The inferior border decorated with dragons, qilin, hou, taotie, qiongqi, taowu, hundun, baize, qunni and other 4 mythical animals, and the top border showing fan, ding, conch, books, scrolls, kite, ruyi, guqin, qing and phenix.


The reverse composed by 20 poems illustrated with different calligraphic styles, from local scholars (Shandong province) paying tribute to the minister.

All panels in polychrome on a dark brown lacquer ground. The exquisite decoration of the screen proving the social importance of the owner.   

Coromandel is a part of the southeast coast between the Godava River and Nagapatnam in India. In the seventeenth century, the trade and import of furniture from China to Europe was by sea. The goods passed through Coromandel, which made it a vital relay point for the trade. So many people thought that the objects arriving from Coromandel were really made in Coromandel. The Portuguese arrived first in India in 1496, then in China around 1514. The screens of Coromandel were very popular at the time, we can find copies decorating the interiors on the Flemish paintings of the seventeenth or eighteenth century.

此屏风题“恩荣九锡“， 恩荣指皇帝向臣下的赏赐，九锡为汉代设立的等级制度中的最高一品。十二页屏风描绘了一位朝中重臣在他的庭院中迎接四方来客，左边为文人骚客，右边为武将。远处新到的客人骑马穿过大门进入庭院。后院的女眷们欣赏荷花池里的野鸭。画面中间的乐师们演奏喜庆的乐曲。
“贺寿图“的四周装饰着龙及九子，并各种上古神兽；文房、如意、方鼎、扇子、风筝、手卷册页、古琴、石罄等吉祥纹饰。
屏风背面有当地士绅以楷、篆、草体书写的称颂、赞美寿星的诗歌，并以各种图案装饰。工匠极尽能事，展现了这件屏风的主人享有重要的社会地位。

款彩是在木板上以漆灰为底子，上黑漆或其他色漆，用类似白描的手法在漆面上勾出花纹，然后把花纹轮廓里的漆灰清空，再补上各种色漆或色油在里面，成为彩色图画。款彩在明清甚為普遍，特別常用於製作屏風，在清初成為潮流.

Each panel （单页尺寸） 238 x 46 cm
Estimation 估价: 50.000-75.000 euros
Condition Report will be provided on request:
Pierre Ansas Expert - 12 Rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris
Tel. 0033 625845634; E-mail: ansaspasia@hotmail.com