Folding screen
Category
Furniture
Date
1650 - 1700
Materials
Softwood pine, brass, lacquer, gold, pigments, textile, leather
Measurements
279.5 x 301.0 x 1.7 cm
Place of origin
China
Order this imageCollection
Basildon Park, Berkshire
NT 266655
Summary
An lacquer folding screen, China, late 17th century, consisting of six panels (originally probably 12), decorated in the incised or ‘engraved polychrome’ (kuancai) technique with on the front figures engaged in various leisurely and cultivated activities in a landscape setting, representing the ‘Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden’, and on the back with a descriptive text, both sides framed by a border of antique and decorative objects or ‘ancient things’ (bogu), the panels connected with later (European) brass hinges.
Full description
The Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden was a semi-mythical event that allegedly took place in 1088, when Wang Shen (1048–1104), who was married to one of the imperial princesses of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), is said to have invited a group of scholars, artists and poets to a party at his Western Garden in the capital city of Kaifeng. Among the 16 attendees were the statesman, poet and calligrapher Su Shi (1037–1101), the calligrapher and Buddhist adept Huang Tingjian (1045–1105), the painter and antiquarian Li Gonglin (c. 1049–1106), and the poet and painter Mi Fu (1052–1108). This fictionalised event later became an archetype in Chinese culture for a gathering of cultivated people bringing together aesthetics, knowledge and spirituality. ‘Ancient things’ (bogu) refers to objects originating in the ancient Shang (c.1600–c.1046 BCE) and Zhou (c.1046–221 BCE) dynasties, including cast bronzes and carved jades, which were collected (and replicated) during later periods and came to be seen as symbols of historical continuity and cultural discernment. Kuancai lacquer is made by covering a wooden framework with clay mixed with various binding agents, then applying multiple layers of lacquer, carving the decoration into the lacquer and finally filling the incised areas with various pigments and gilding, resulting in polychrome images on a lustrous black ground. This type of lacquer was originally made in China for the home market, often to be presented as gifts on special occasions. Kuancai lacquer also came to be exported to Europe, especially during the second half of the 17th century, where it became known as ‘Bantam’ or ‘Coromandel’ lacquer, after the locations of English and Dutch trading posts via which this type of lacquer was shipped to the West. Chinese and Japanese lacquer was valued in Europe because of its reflective sheen and its sophisticated decoration, even though the original cultural context of the imagery was not well understood. In Europe large kuancai or Coromandel lacquer screens were often partially disassembled, either to make them easier to use in European interiors or to allow some of the lacquer to be broken up and used as wall panelling or as veneer on furniture.
Provenance
Acquired by Edward Iliffe, 2nd Baron Iliffe (1908–96) and Renée (née Merandon du Plessis), Lady Iliffe (1916–2007), in the mid-20th century; donated by Lord and Lady Iliffe to the National Trust, 1978.