A Twelve-Panel Coromandel Lacquer 'Birthday' Screen, Dated Kangxi 12th year, corresponding to 1673 | 清康熙十二年（1673年） 髹漆加彩刻郭子儀祝壽圖十二扇屏風

This lot is sold pursuant to a settlement agreement between Dr Otto Burchard & Co GmbH and the current owner

Dr. Otto Burchard & Co, Berlin;

Liquidation auction of Dr. Otto Burchard & Co., Paul Graupe, Berlin, 22- 23 March 1935, lot 1240;

Collection of Frederick Mclean Bugher (1901-1984);

Christie's New York, 27 June 1984, lot 389.

Dr. Otto Burchard & Co.，柏林

Dr. Otto Burchard & Co.財產拍賣，Paul Graupe，柏林，1935年3月22至23日，編號1240

Frederick Mclean Bugher (1901-1984) 收藏

紐約佳士得1984年6月27日，編號389

2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 1993, cat. no. 109

《2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery》，香港中文大學，香港，1993年，編號109

W. de Kesel and G. Dhont, Coromandel Lacquer Screens, Ghent 2002, p. 33, fig. 20

W. de Kesel 及 G. Dhont，《Coromandel Lacquer Screens》，根特，2002年，頁33，圖20

This colorful and monumental twelve-panel lacquered screen belongs to a renowned group of screens commissioned as auspicious birthday gifts for public officials, particularly popular during the Kangxi period (1662-1722). The splendid color and condensed composition are characteristics of the kuancai (款彩) technique, which involves carving out of a smooth surface, revealing the ground coating, and then coloring with oil or lacquer pigments.

The plaque Fenyang Fu (汾陽府) 'Estate of Fenyang' painted on the third panel from the right provides a hint about the subject illustrated. The dignitary depicted at the center of the screen, Guo Ziyi (郭子儀) (697-781), a famous general of the Tang dynasty (618-907), who held the title Prince of Fenyang (汾陽郡王), was considered a personification of wealth, high rank and longevity.

The long dedicatory inscription carved and filled in with gold on the reverse states that the screen was made during the 12th year of the Kangxi reign (1673). A birthday gift for Tu Yongtai (塗永泰), Deputy Magistrate of Nanhai county, Guangdong province, the screen was presented by Qi Wenyou (祁文友), a retired official of Dongguan, Guangdong province, as well as friends and families of Tu.

A screen made slightly earlier, in the 9th year of the Kangxi reign (1670), depicting a similar scene, is in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (accession no. B69M52).