AN EMBELLISHED CINNABAR LACQUER SCREEN AND ZITAN STAND MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

of rectangular form, the central cinnabar lacquer ground embellished with a caparisoned elephant standing foursquare with its head turned towards its back, between a sprig of finger-citron and a pot plant of prunus blooms, a vase with further floral blossoms resting atop the elephant, all applied with various hardstones, jade and shell against a lacquer floral-diapered ground, the reverse inscribed in semi-cursive script with an imperial poem by the Qianlong Emperor, followed by two seal marks, all set within a carved zitan frame and supported on a matching elaborately carved zitan stand detailed with lotus scroll designs

Screens of this type, encrusted with different media, would have required the involvement of a number of departments within the Imperial workshop, all coordinated and strictly controlled by the Zaobanchu (The Household Department). The present screen is notable for the meticulously carved ground, which enhances the sense of depth of the scene.

A pair of lacquer panels, decorated with a similar subject on a dark plain ground, was sold in our New York rooms, 16th September 2009, lot 143. A table screen inlaid on one side with an elephant carrying a vase followed by tributaries and a poem on the reverse, attributed to the 17th century, was included in the exhibition Between Heaven and Earth. Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and Objects, Sydney Moss, London, 1988, cat. no. 38. Compare also a lacquer box embellished with a related scene of an elephant and bat amongst clouds, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 187.