Page 143 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

The quadrilaterally symmetrical cartouche with barbs oriented toward
the points of the compass represents a cartouche type seldom encountered
before the Qing, but frequently encountered in eighteenth-century porce-
4
3
lains from the kilns at Jingdezhen and at Dehua. Although Yuan, Ming, and
Qing decorative arts employ them, bracketed cartouches on wares pro-
duced before the eighteenth century tend to be wider than they are tall 5
and they sometimes have two rounded lobes at the bottom rather than a
single barb 6 [see 26].
History records that the indigenous tree peony (Paeonia arborea)
was introduced into the imperial gardens in the late sixth or early seventh
century, during the short-lived Sui dynasty. 7 With its large, showy blossoms,
the tree peony quickly captured the imagination of the Chinese, who began
to cultivate it on a wide scale; it numbered among the most popular flowers
in the realm by the eighth century and has retained its appeal to the present
day. The peony frequently appears in Tang-dynasty Buddhist paintings
and in the ornament of Tang gold and silver vessels; numerous secular paint-
ings of blossoming peonies survive from the Song dynasty, typically painted
in colors on silk. The peony and the lotus rank among the most popular
motifs on Song-dynasty ceramics, particularly in the carved and molded
designs on celadon-glazed vessels from the Yaozhou kilns; they also figure
prominently in the decorative schemes both of Yuan and early Ming blue-
and-white porcelains from Jingdezhen and of early Ming carved red lacquer.
Although its popularity as a subject to be depicted in the visual arts endured
through the Ming and Qing, the tree peony found special favor during
the early Qing period, in the paintings 8 of Yun Shouping (1633-1690), for
example, and in Yongzheng and Qianlong period porcelains with designs
delicately painted in overglaze fencai enamels, 9 particularly those of the
so-called Guyuexuan type.
Often called the King of Flowers, or hua wang, due to its popularity
and to the size of its blossoms, the tree peony is formally known in Chinese
as mudan hua, which means 'male vermillion flower' and indicates that it is
looked upon as the flower associated with the yang, or male, principle in
the dualistic yin-yang system of cosmology. 10 It is, however, also regarded
as a symbol of feminine beauty and as an emblem of love and affection.
Representing spring, the tree peony figures among the flowers of the four
seasons, standing alongside the lotus, chrysanthemum, and plum which,
respectively, stand for summer, autumn, and winter; in addition, the peony
11
represents the third month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which generally

T I I E R O B E R T II. C L A G U E C O L L E C T I O N 1 3 9