Page 199 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

NSPIRED BY A N T I Q U E INLAID WINE V E S S E L S , this jar derives from
Warring States hu vessels, as indicated by its low-set, pear-shaped
I body and flaring neck of medium length, 1 rather than from the
2
short-necked, spherical-bodied ones of the Han. The use of three ring-
handles, rather than two, quickly distinguishes this jar from late Bronze
Age vessels, however, as does the relief decoration of taotie masks, kui
dragons, and descending lappets, features associated more with Shang
and Western Zhou bronzes than with those of Warring States and Han.
Colorful and luxurious, inlaid bronzes found a ready market from
the Song onward, appreciated for their unmistakable link to that Utopian
age known as the Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang, and Zhou) during which
King Wen, King Wu, the Duke of Zhou, Laozi, Confucius, and other cultural
heroes lived. In general, inlaid bronzes made during the Song, Yuan, and
early Ming follow the manner of Warring States and Han inlaid bronzes,
creating their designs with their gold and silver inlays; set directly into the
vessel wall, the gold and silver elements are flush with its surface. 3
Although some late Ming and Qing bronzes retain this approach, 4 many of
these later inlaid bronzes are cast in low relief, using inlays of gold and
silver merely to ornament the relief elements. 5 Probably introduced in the
late Ming, 6 damascening became popular in the Qing, supplanting tradi-
tional inlay in which the gold and silver elements, whether wires or small
sheets, are set into prepared recesses with undercut edges [44]; in dama-
scening, sometimes called false inlay, the surface areas to be embellished
with gold or silver are scored with a fine network of hatched lines so that
thin pieces of gold and silver adhere to the roughened surface when ham-
mered into place. 7
The embellishment of the relief designs with gold and silver indi-
cates a date no earlier than the late Ming for this vessel, and the reliance
upon damascening, rather than inlay, points to a date in the late eighteenth
or nineteenth century. With long, curved snouts and with mouths agape, the
kui dragons argue for a late Qianlong or post-Qianlong date, 8 as do the
patternized taotie masks, whose open, nearly toothless mouths recall
yawns more than ferocious snarls. The results of a thermoluminescence (TL)
test performed on a sample of casting core removed from under the foot-
ring of this jar are consistent with a late Qing attribution. 9
Integrally cast, the relief decoration shows traces of cold finishing.
The base was added after casting; the ring-handles appear to have been
separately cast and fused into place. All gold and silver elements, including
the lip's silver-wire leiwen border, were applied through damascening. 10

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