Coromandel screen

A carved lacquer 18th century coromondel screen of eight panels depicting various domestic scenes. Black lacquer with incised colour decoration.

Coromadel folding screens are panels of incised black lacquer, often painted gold or other colours and frequently decorated by the application of jade and other semiprecious stones, shell, or porcelain. These screens, having as many as 12 leaves, were of considerable size. Scenes of Chinese life or landscape were typical, but European hunting or nautical scenes were also popular. Although these screens were probably made in northern or central China during the Kangxi period (1661–1722) of the Qing dynasty, they received their name from India’s Coromandel coast, where they were transshipped to Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by merchants of the English and French East India companies.

Each panel measures .38 m x 2.09 m