A RARE LARGE TWELVE-PANEL PAINTED SCREEN QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

gouache on silk on a gilt ground, depicting a continuous scene of phoenix and cranes flying and standing around a central magnolia tree, amongst flowering peony, plantain and rockwork and swirling clouds beside a pond with mandarin ducks and birds, with bamboo, prunus and lingzhi fungus on the marshy banks

John Sparks & Co Ltd.
The Duke of Kent.
Francis Egerton.

This rare screen is in reasonably generally good condition, but there are some areas of paint flaking throughout the panels. There are also areas of restoration/repair and over painting to each of the panels. The colours are generally bright, however the first panel and panels 8 to 12 are brighter than panels 2 to 7, as they were displayed in two halves in a room for a long period. It is possible that with careful cleaning it should be possible to brighten up the darker panels. The paintings are laid onto a hard wood backing, the side, upper and lower borders that have been painted in an olive green and highlighted in gilt some time in the 20th century are most likely later additions. With regard the second panel from the left, this has had recent restoration due to a horizontal and associated vertical split. A backing has been inserted and coloured to match the surrounding area.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Panels of this powerful colouration and bold painting are extremely rare although a closely related screen, acquired by Alan Priest in Beijing in 1919 and later in the collection of Robert Ellsworth, and included in the exhibition The Manchu Dragon: Costumes of the Ch'ing Dynasty 1644-1912, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1980, was sold in our New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 251.

The subject of bird-and-flower painting was much favoured by the literati from as early as the Song dynasty, when under the patronage of the Northern Song emperor Huizong (r. 1101-1125) the Imperial Academy was established where artists were encouraged to create and experiment with their painting style. Northern Song painter Cui Bo (active circa 1060-1085) is often credited for changing the direction of bird-and-flower paintings within the Academy, making them more animated and freer in style; for example see his work titled Magpies and Hare in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Wen Fong and James Watt, Possessing the Past, New York, 1996, pl. 71.

The subject matter of myriad birds including the sacred bird - phoenix - in a natural landscape setting filled with lush greens and flowers of all sorts allowed the artist to display his skills and also functioned as a metaphor for society. The colourful birds represented the higher echelons of society while the smaller birds the common people. The phoenix, usually featured prominently in the centre, symbolises the emperor or the empress and as such, all the other birds are depicted paying their homage to it. For an example of a twelve panel coromandel lacquer screen decorated with phoenixes see one illustrated in W. de Kesel and G. Dhont, Coromandel Lacquer Screens, Gent, 2002, pl. 40, attributed to the 18th century; and one from the collection of C.T. Loo, Paris, is published in Michel Beurdeley, Chinese Furniture, New York, 1979, pl. 184, attributed to the 17th century. Screens of this type were used as important furnishing of halls and palaces and would have been placed in a prominent position dividing the space or used as a background setting.