55. 55W GRAND PARAVENT EN LAQUE DE COROMANDEL À DOUZE FEUILLES Époque Kangxi (1662-1722), daté de l'année ren ying de Kangxi (1722) A TWELVE-PANEL COROMANDEL LACQUER SCREEN dated to the ren ying year of the sixty-first year of the Kangxi reign (1722) and of the period Finely carved on one side with the birthday celebrations for Guo Ziyi, a Tang dynasty hero, and depicting the arrival of guests crossing a footbridge to approach the central pavilion where the hero is entertained by dancers and musicians, with groups of military and civilian officials waiting in a courtyard to pay their respects, surrounded by noble families, and ladies tending to young children in secluded pavilions, all within a floral border and panels each featuring mythical animals, all in rich colors on a brown ground, the reverse with a long inscription across all twelve panels, dedicated to the an official on his birthday and dated to the cyclical year ren ying of the Kangxi reign (corresponding to 1722) Each panel 279 x 48cm (109 7/8 x 18 7/8in) (12). THE PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED FRENCH FAMILY 法國顯赫家族藏品 清康熙六十一年（1722年） 款彩郭子儀祝壽圖十二扇屏風 Provenance: Acquired in Paris by the grandfather of the present owners before 1935, and thence by descent 來源: 現任藏家祖父於1935年前於巴黎獲得，並由後人保存迄今 Coromandel lacquer, known in Chinese as kuancai, first appeared in China in the 16th century. Coromandel lacquer technique involved applying a layer of chalk mixed with clay to wooden panels which were then covered with a thin layer of black lacquer, the design was then carved into the chalk through the layer of lacquer. Then the carved areas of the light base layer, framed by narrow bands or larger areas of the black lacquer surface, were filled with coloured lacquer and partially gilded. A novel technique, coromandel lacquer pieces were first made for the domestic market but in the 17th and 18th century were made mainly for export to the West. The scene depicted in one side of this impressive twelve leaf screen depicts Guo Ziyi (697-781), a celebrated general who served under four emperors and is credited with saving the Tang dynasty by repressing the An Shi rebellion. The subject was a popular one the visual arts of the Ming and Qing dynasties and often depicted in paintings and other media. The lengthy inscription on the reverse of the screen states that the screen was made during the 61st year of the Kangxi reign (1722), a birthday present to a high official. A screen made in the 9th year of the Kangxi reign (1670), depicting a similar scene, is in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (accession no. B69M52). Compare also with another coromandel lacquer screen decorated with the same subject, sold Christie's New York, 24-25 March 2011, lot 1367.