December, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



439 



and silver leaf with embroidery in 

 silk and metal thread became the 

 popular decoration. The hinges 

 were then made of the same paper, 

 although in China silk cords were 

 used for this purpose. 



The Japanese "byobus" were 

 sometimes made in pairs, but the 

 artist in decorating usually confined 

 his entire subject to one screen — 

 often bold in design and elaborately 

 treated. This might seem an in- 

 congruity in a country where sim- 

 plicity is the keynote of decoration, 

 were it not to be explained by the 

 fact that screens were extensively 

 used in large palaces where the rooms 

 were so vast, a more delicate treat- 

 ment would be ineffective and lost. 



The Chinese screen is seen at its 



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Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 



An old English screen mounted in an ivory frame 



verte." Representing the work of 

 that period in Asiatic art when ce- 

 ramics and all decorative arts had 

 reached the height of their excel- 

 lence, it shows a marked similarity 

 to the black hawthorne vases, the 

 finest of which were made during the 

 K'ang-hsi period, under the direc- 

 tion of Ts'ang Ying-hsuan, who was 

 appointed superintendent of the im- 

 perial factories of Ching-le-chen in 

 1683, and under whose direction 

 this screen was also made. 



The decoration represents the 

 summer palace in Pekin, with the 

 Emperor K'ang-hsi sitting on the 

 throne watching the dance of two 

 girls. As the inscription on the back 

 shows, it was dedicated by a colonel 

 of Tsen Chow to a district magis- 



best in lacquer, as illustrated in the twelve-leafed screen of trate, and was acquired in perfect condition by Mr. Morgan 



the K'ang-hsi period, (1 662-1 722), a gift of the late J. at the sale of the Baron Speck von Sternburg collection, 



Pierpont Morgan to the Metropolitan Museum, although held in New York a few years ago, at a cost of $10,000. 



less important yet beautiful examples are found in carved The value attached to the oriental screen and the care 



teakwood and embroidered satin with ebony mounts. used in its preservation coupled with the important part it 



The screen in China was regarded as a singularly ap- has taken in the history of oriental art has unquestionably 



propriate gift by persons of rank and official distinction to preserved to us many fine examples such as this Chinese 



commemorate an event in the life of that personage or in screen, dated 1690, which would otherwise have been lost. 



the history of the country, and was presented with much The use of the five screen, however, has necessarily 



ceremony and attention to the detail of dedication, as may become more or less affected by the application in the 



be seen in the illustration of the reverse side of the lacquer houses of today of the modern heating apparatus and when 



screen just mentioned. the open fire is introduced more as a note of cheerfulness 



This was executed by the artist Fong Long, Kon of Fat- in the room than a necessity, but the screen even if not 



shan, and is a masterpiece in color, design and technique, relegated to its original usage is always a desirable and 



with the subtle charm of a Chinese vase of the "famille a most convenient accessory in the furnishings of a room. 



An old 



.., , ,, ^p, . , , . ,,„ ,, Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 



home-made screen. I his was made or colored Flinch pictures carefully pasted on a buff-colored paneling. The borders are 



strips of early "Wedgewood" wall-paper 



