CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, DATE DE L'ANNEE BINGYIN DU REGNE DE KANGXI (1686)

Large Chinese Coromandel screens, named after its entrepôt on the coast of India, were fashionable gifts both at home and abroad in the 17th century. For the domestic market, they were commissioned and displayed for special occasions and the presented example is a fine illustration of that feature. This screen was commissioned by a high official in the Ministry of Revenue named Yu for another male family member’s birthday, and possibly paraded at the said event. This celebratory theme repeats itself throughout the screen’s decoration, a rare scene on blue ground. It shows a festive but elegant gathering where a learned man’s interests were manifested from music to go, and symbols of harmony and fortune also mingled. For examples on blue ground in the collections of the Palace Museum in Bejing, see Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II) in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, The Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 214-17. Another example in the collection of Musée Guimet in Paris shows a similar composition (MA 12218 A).