AN EXTREMELY RARE HUANGHUALI TWELVE-LEAF SCREEN LATE MING DYNASTY | 明末 黃花梨透雕螭龍紋福祿壽五抹十二扇圍屏

Christie's Hong Kong, 31st October 1994, lot 419.

香港佳士得1994年10月31日，編號419

This magnificent screen would have stood in a grand hall to create a striking backdrop for a formal reception or official event. Deftly carved with an intricate motif of chilong and auspicious characters, this screen demonstrates the bold creativity of woodcarvers working in the 17th century. While the chilong seen on these panels were inspired by archaism, their vigorous and dynamic rendering on this piece is unusual. The folding screen served multiple functions: it divided a room concealing areas and objects that were not supposed to be displayed, and provided a hiding place for ladies, who could peek at important visitors through the openwork carving. When mounted with paintings by a famous artist or lines from a favourite poem, both of which were viewed and read from right to left as a traditional Chinese book, it heightened their importance and showcased the sophisticated taste of the master of the house. Such monumental screens were made only for the wealthiest aristocratic families, and are thus very rare.

Multi-panelled screens have a long history in China, developing from single-panelled screens made as early as the Warring States period (475-221 BC) and becoming popular from the Northern Wei dynasty (AD 386-534). These early screens, which were relatively short, framed a platform where high-ranking individuals sat or enclosed a canopy bed to provide privacy. They thus had both an honorific and protective function. Screens gradually become larger and the most impressive examples were made in the Ming and Qing dynasties. While they often appear on woodblock printed books of the period, extant examples are rare.

A very small number of screens of this type has survived: a twelve-panelled screen mounted with a set of landscape paintings, in the collection of Ruth and Bruce Dayton, now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classic Chinese Furniture, Minneapolis, 1999, pl. 54; a screen in the former Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture in California, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classic Chinese Furniture, San Francisco, 1995, pl. 73, and was later sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 107; and another was sold at Christie’s New York, 16th September 1999, lot 106.

此組圍屏原設於舊時廳堂，屏前迎賓禮客、主持要務，彰顯朱門氣派。縧環板及裙板透雕螭龍，且團作「福」、「祿」、「壽」字，紋飾繁密，刀法嫻熟，可見十七世紀木工奇思巧構。螭龍紋飾古已有之，然盤錯蜿蜒、得此神采者，實不多見。 圍屏功用頗多，既可分隔一室，遮擋不便示人之處，又可供女眷藏身，憑透雕窺望來人；屏心嵌名畫佳篇，從右至左觀之，與閱書卷無異，可展現主人詩文造詣。此類圍屏非大戶不可享，故尤為稀貴。

多扇圍屏源遠流長，其前身獨扇屏風早在戰國（公元前475-221年）已濫觴，及至北魏（386-534年）更成風尚。早期屏風偏矮，立於座席後或床榻前，可昭威儀，可護隱私。而後，屏風尺寸漸大，於明清登峰造極，木刻版畫頻頻可見，然存世之例寥寥無幾。

此類圍屏存例甚罕，比一組十二扇圍屏，屏心嵌山水畫，Ruth 及 Bruce Dayton 伉儷舊藏，現貯明尼阿波利斯美術館，載於 Robert D. Jacobsen 及 Nicholas Grindley, 《Classic Chinese Furniture》，明尼阿波利斯，1999年，圖版54；另一組，原加州中國古典家具博物館藏，錄於王世襄及柯惕思，《明式家具萃珍》，三藩市，1995年，圖版73，後售於紐約佳士得1996年9月19日，編號107；及一例，售於紐約佳士得1999年9月16日，編號106。