Page 170 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

type usually stands alone, silhouetted against its own backdrop. 8 Even in
the sometimes congested decoration of carved red lacquer, a single flower
type usually predominates on any given piece; in those cases where several
varieties appear together, the flowers are typically segregated by type
rather than commingled. 9 Eighteenth-century bronzes and ceramics, by con-
trast, not only present flowers of varied types together to suggest a garden,
but often intertwine them. 10
The lack of formal borders also points to an eighteenth-century date
for this vase, as does the use of a single decorative motif that spreads over
the entire vessel surface, from bottom to top. Occasionally omitted, elab-
orate borders generally played an important role in the ornament of the
11
decorative arts during the Ming; by contrast, borders were often eliminated
in the eighteenth century, especially in those pieces with less conservative
decor. 12 In addition, during the Ming, formal borders were sometimes used
to emphasize a change in vessel profile, underscoring the shift from shoul-
der to neck, for example, by a change in decorative motif. A desire for surface
unity led eighteenth-century craftsmen to adapt their motifs to changes in
13
vessel profile so that a single motif could envelop the entire surface. The
very light texturing of the background with half circles, lightly struck with
a half-circle punch, recalls the similar, subtle texturing of the ground on
the central band of the Kangxi-period gu-shaped vases [32], suggesting a
date during the first half of the eighteenth century for this vase.
Although the decorative motifs were probably integrally cast with the
vase itself, the form and articulation of detail were accomplished through
cold working. The ring-mat ground was mechanically punched and the
relief decoration finished with a hammer and chisel, which accounts for
the relief elements' impeccably straight, vertical sides and for the chatter
marks along their edges. Partially concealed by the ring-punch texturing
and by the brown coating, intaglio outlines with beveled outer edges sur-
round each decorative element, enhancing the appearance of relief. The
ring punching not only imparts a handsome texture to the background, it
provides a foil for the decorative elements, making them easier to read; it
also conceals the telltale chisel marks imparted in cold working.

166 10 C H I N A ' S R E N A I S S A N C E IN B R O N Z E