Page 113 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

censer. Uncommon on early Ming porcelains from Jingdezhen, bosses occa-
sionally appear on mid- and late Ming blue-and-white wares, usually as border
16
decoration, providing a late Ming context for the Clague censer.
The 'Eight Auspicious Emblems/ or bajixiang, ornament the sides of
this censer. 17 Popular in the Ming and Qing periods, the motif was intro-
duced to Chinese art from Tibetan Buddhism during the Yuan dynasty; it
appears occasionally on Jingdezhen porcelains and Longquan celadons of
the day. 18 Best known as an ornamental motif in the decorative arts, the
'Eight Auspicious Emblems' were also fashioned independently as small
19
sculptures in porcelain, gilt bronze, and cloisonne enamel for placement
on Buddhist altars or in three-dimensional Buddhist mandalas (cosmolog-
ical diagrams). Although they vary considerably in Yuan-dynasty depictions, 20
both the emblems constituting the motif and their order of appearance had
been standardized by Ming times as follows:

wheel (lun) symbolizing the Wheel of the Law (falun) and thus the
Buddha and his teachings
conch shell (luo) symbolizing majesty, felicitous travel, and the voice
of the Buddha
canopy (chuang) symbolizing spiritual authority, reverence, and purity
umbrella (san or gai) symbolizing royal grace
flower (hua) symbolizing truth, purity, and creative power
vase or jar (ping) symbolizing eternal harmony, abundant blessings,
and ultimate triumph over birth and death
double fish (yu) symbolizing fertility, abundance, conjugal happiness,
and protection against evil
endless knot (jie) symbolizing longevity, eternity, and receipt of the
Buddha's assistance. 21

Even though the emblems and their order were prescribed by the
Ming, their styles changed over time, providing clues vital for dating. The
emblems on the Clague censer correspond exactly to those on Wanli-period
blue-and-white porcelains, confirming its late sixteenth- or early seven-
teenth-century date. 22 In particular, the wheel, with its eight spokes oriented
toward the points of the compass, is identical to those on Wanli porcelains.
The flower is the lotus, which was regularly used until the late seventeenth
century after which it was often replaced by a peony [compare 22]; in Wanli
fashion, the lotus is presented as an eight-petaled 'foreign lotus,' or fanlian,
a stylized flower whose jewel-shaped center is exposed and whose pointed
petals have the characteristic interior drawing seen in the Clague example.

1 1 1
T H E R O B E R T H. C L A G U E C O L L E C T I O N