Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

AN EXTREMELY RARE CHINESE IMPERIAL CARVED RED, GREEN AND BLUE LACQUER ‘DAOIST PARADISE’ LANDSCAPE PANEL
QIANLONG 1736-95

The panel depicts an elaborate landscape with mountains, lakes and pavilions carved through layers of red, green and blue lacquer. Various figures can be identified in the landscape. To the top of the picture, Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, is depicted flying on the back of a phoenix, accompanied by two attendants holding fans. From a balustraded terrace she is watched by a group of Immortals including the crippled Li Tieguai; in the centre of the panel, the female Immortal He Xiangu paddles her log raft across the lake, she heads towards the shore where the Hehe Erxian or Laughing Twins are waiting. In the foreground, three further figures are standing on a hump-backed bridge, which has a pavilion in the centre. Further groups of figures, cranes and deer can be seen scattered across the panel. The integral frame is carved with the eight Buddhist emblems with panels of formal archaistic and floral decoration. All suspended from a bronze handle composed of stylised dragons with a shou symbol to the centre, 71cm x 101.5cm.

Provenance: an English private collection, Surrey, UK; sold on behalf of Parkinson's UK. Formerly Spink & Son Ltd. (Advertised in the Connoisseur magazine, December 1950).

Later sold by Christie’s London, 9th June 1975, lot 125; formerly the collections of Colonel Rokeby and the collection of Lord Nunburnholme.

Large panels in carved lacquer were a prominent decorative feature in the palaces of the Forbidden City during the reign of the Qianlong emperor, who was particularly fond of this medium. Qianlong commissioned a set of panels depicting various campaigns and victories during his reign, but most existing panels are of a pictorial nature. To the informed viewer the present magnificent panel contains an abundance of symbolic references and auspicious wishes, expressed by the presence of many Immortals, a tree laden with peaches, pairs of cranes and deer, lotus flowers and Buddhist emblems. It can thus be considered to have been made for a special occasion, perhaps the Emperor's birthday. Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, is one of the most enduringly popular deities in Chinese history. She underwent many transformations according to how people worshipped her and is believed to have held court within her palace on Mount Kunlun in western China. Her palace, a perfect and complete paradise, was used as a meeting place for the Gods and as a cosmic pillar that enabled communications between Gods and humans. The Queen Mother of the West is widely known for serving peaches to her guests, which would then make them immortal. The frame of the panel is carved with the Eight Buddhist Emblems: the conch shell, lotus, wheel, parasol, endless knot, pair of fish, banner and vase and like the Eight Immortals, these are auspicious symbols.

A rectangular lacquer panel-on-stand, carved with a scene of people in a boat on a lake with mountains behind is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan. Another, similar screen-on-stand, carved with a central view of an island with rocks and buildings is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. A small carrying case that is also in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing has the same unusual outline as the present panel.

清乾隆 御製剔彩道教聖賢仙境圖掛屏

來源：英國薩里郡私人收藏，成交金額將全數捐贈英國帕金森基金會。倫敦古董商Spink & Son Ltd，曾在1950年12月於英國Connoisseur雜誌刊登廣告。倫敦佳士得，Rokeby上校和Nunburnholme勳爵舊藏，1975年3月23日，拍品編號125。