Page 67 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

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the life of Hu Wenming, except that he was famous for his bronzes (espe-
cially his censers) and that he worked in Yunjian (modern Songjiang, also
called Huating, about twenty miles southwest of Shanghai), an affluent
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center in southern Jiangsu province long associated with the arts and with
metal working. Hu Wenming's dates of birth and death remain unknown,
but two of his vessels bear dated inscriptions, one corresponding to 1583
and the other to 1613, indicating that he was active during the reign of the
Wanli Emperor. Marks on several other bronzes reveal that they were made
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by a son, Hu Guangyu, who perhaps inherited the workshop or succeeded
his father as proprietor. Though details about the Hu family are scarce, bio-
graphical dictionaries mention two Ming gentlemen, surnamed Hu, whose
two-character given names include 'Wen' as the first syllable: Hu Wenbi
(dates unknown, but jinshi, 1517), who served as an official in the Zhengde
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and Jiajing reigns; and Hu Wenhuan (dates unknown, but active in the late
sixteenth century), a bookseller in Hangzhou who published an abridged
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version of Cao Zhao's Gegu yaolun in 1596. The similarity of names could
be coincidental, since the character 'Wen' is both common and appropriate
as a given name, but it could also indicate a familial relationship, perhaps
as brothers or as first cousins. Further research on these individuals might
shed light on the Hu family, if not on Hu Wenming himself. Although the
passage of time has obscured the circumstances of his life, Hu Wenming
remains one of the few Chinese bronze casters whose name is known and
who can be associated with specific works in this otherwise largely anony-
mous craft tradition.
History remembers Hu Wenming best for the articles he produced
for the scholar's studio: brushpots, ruyi scepters, hand warmers, flower
vases, and especially incense paraphernalia - censers, incense boxes, vases,
spoons, and tongs. His works comprise two groups, those in cast bronze,
such as this incense box, and those in raised copper, such as the Clague
Collection censer [see 12]. Virtually all of his works have colorful surfaces,
achieved through parcel gilding in the hammered copper pieces and through
parcel gilding, inlays of gold and silver, or a combination of both in the cast
bronze ones. Many of his pieces draw upon Shang and Zhou bronzes for
their shapes - gu beakers and trumpet-mouthed zun vessels for flower
vases, and gui bowls and cylindrical zun vessels for censers; in addition,
they often employ archaic taotie masks as decoration. Lacking archaic proto-
types, other vessels, such as the present incense container, feature more
naturalistic decoration that accords well with that seen on jade and lacquer
pieces of the period.

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