Page 69 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

The juxtaposition of naturalistically rendered floral group and dia-
pered ground, a combination that finds exact parallels in contemporaneous
jades, 22 lacquers, 23 and textiles, 24 signals the late Ming date of this incense
container, as does the new-found reliance upon lacquerware models. The
weight of this container also indicates its late Ming date, since the box is
much heavier in proportion to its size than the thin-walled vessels of the
Song and Yuan periods [compare 4-6]. In addition, with its gilded surfaces
and its leiwen borders inlaid in silver wire, this box reflects the late Ming
25
popular taste for bright colors. Although parcel gilding had been used in
the decoration of Ming copper and bronze vessels at least since the Xuande
period, earlier pieces lack the visual force of late Ming examples.
Apart from the identifying mark, the naturalistic floral motif that
combines two different plants and the straight, vertical sides of the relief
elements distinguish the style of this box as that of Hu Wenming, as do
the hexagonal diapers embellished with double-Y markings 26 and the gild-
ing of both relief elements and unembellished backgrounds. Also typical
of Hu Wenming's work is the reliance upon cold working to create both
relief decoration and diapered ground, the technique imbuing the deco-
rated surfaces with the clarity and precision of carved lacquer. In this piece,
for example, both box and cover were cast, though the mark was incised,
the diapering struck with a hammer and punch (which accounts for its
sharpness), and the relief decoration sculptured with a hammer and chisel
(which accounts for the relief elements' straight, vertical sides and for the
series of telltale chisel marks). Although the leiwen borders were inlaid
through the traditional method of fitting silver wires into prepared recesses,
the gold overlay was most likely effected through the use of mercury, or
parcel, gilding. In this technique, the areas to be gilded would have been
painted with an amalgam of powdered gold and liquid mercury after casting
and cold working were completed, and then the vessel would have been
heated lightly. As the mercury evaporated, it left behind a thin but even
layer of gold. Since the layer of gold is thin, it wears away easily.

The six-character, seal-script mark on this incense container is similar
in content and calligraphic style to those on other works by Hu Wenming. 27
Although the corpus of Hu Wenming marks exhibits too much variation
for all to be from the same period, let alone the same hand, marks on ves-
sels whose styles allow a credible attribution to the late Ming period show
sufficient consistency to relate them to a single workshop. Hu Wenming
marks were incised rather than struck with a die, even on cast pieces, so
that even apparently genuine marks reveal more variation than might be

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