Important Coromandel lacquer twelve-leaf folding screen, China, dated in the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, 1760. At the center of the scene stands a high-ranking dignitary, dressed in a red cloak and holding a scepter in his left hand, seated at the center of the central pavilion of a palace whose architecture is composed of multiple courtyards and buildings. He is surrounded by officials and women, and by two figures prostrating themselves before him. From his central, slightly elevated position, the dignitary looks down on dancers and musicians, while a procession of figures passes through the gate of the enclosure bearing gifts. This organized, hierarchical escort converges on the center of the stage, reinforcing the idea of an official ceremony. In the courtyards and outbuildings, men and young women converse, children play and servants bustle about. On the pediment of the main gate is written: 東轅門 - Dong Yuanmen - "Eastern Gate of the Government Office", while a white banner bearing the inscription 帥 Shu Ai "Commander-in-Chief" floats. Each upper part of the ten central leaves is decorated with scholar's objects and the lower part with mythical animals: quirin, pixiu... The two side leaves are decorated with two leaf-shaped cartouches enclosing a motif of fish swimming in seaweed and rectangular cartouches showing a character and movable objects. On the reverse, a long inscription in kaishu engraved and painted in gold on a black background and the date of the 25th year of Qianlong's reign - 乾隆, indicated according to the cyclical calendar, in the "mid-winter month", on a "faste day". This dating corresponds to the year 1760. The inscription is an official eulogy written on the occasion of the birthday of a personage designated as "Zongyin, venerable elder" (宗寅長先生). It combines a career narrative, longevity wishes, literary references, and a conclusion signed by officials. It brings together administrative prestige, Confucian virtue, family harmony and longevity wishes, while serving as a public mark of recognition and social testimony within the literate and official network. The first panels present an accumulation of titles, appointments and promotions: local magistracies, prefectural offices, military functions (including appointment by imperial order), increases in rank and "recorded mentions" (紀錄). The whole functions as a curriculum honorum, intended to demonstrate that the recipient has served the state with merit and constancy. The text continues with a literary register: the recipient is praised for his virtue, modesty, sense of duty, ability to govern, as well as for the harmony of his home. Wishes for longevity make use of traditional images (pines and cypresses, sun and moon, "longevity like the mount of the South"), formulating a wish for life "without limit". Several allusions reinforce this praise: models of uprightness, exemplary administration, and comparison with historical figures associated with the "bronze column" (銅柱), symbol of enduring merit and consigned glory. The end of the inscription is signed by two figures identified as Kunmo (昆模), officer in charge of a district in Guangxi (honorary and administrative mention). And Fan Zongji (范宗機), also a local officer, signing with the respect formula "written with a bow" (拜書). 274 x 599 cm