Coromandel Black Lacquer Screen – Four Panels – Period: Early 20th Century

Period: Early 20th century
Dimensions: Height: 183cm x Width: 165cm x Thickness: 2.8cm
Leaf dimensions : Height : 183cm x Width : 40,8cm x Thickness : 2,8cm

The type of lacquer known as “Coromandel” was created in China around the middle of the 17th century. Their name, that of the east coast of India, was given by the English because it was in the ports of this coast that these lacquers were exported from China to Europe.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Chinese junks were transhipped onto the ships of the East India companies. These were cabinets and, above all, vast screens of twelve sheets, up to 3 metres high and 60 centimetres wide for each sheet. 
They were originally presented in China as gifts to high dignitaries. 
From the reign of Kangxi onwards, they became export items and became very popular in Europe. 
Many of them were dismembered on arrival and cut into panels to decorate chests of drawers.

The technique ushered in a new decorative style. The wood was covered with a thin fabric, held together by a carefully smoothed coating of vegetable glue and pulverised shale. The plain lacquer, almost always black, sometimes brown and more rarely red, is then applied in successive layers about 3 millimetres thick. 
The decoration, surrounded by deep incisions and modelled in hollows, is then painted using matt coloured pigments in green, red, blue and white, often accompanied by gold, which contrast with the gloss of the lacquer. 
The finest screens, some of which are dated, feature vast scenes with lively figures or large-scale landscapes. 
They occupy the entire surface, with the exception of wide borders usually decorated with auspicious symbols. 
Production continued in the 19th century, but with drier, more cluttered designs.
Our folding screen has been fully restored in our workshops.