Page 85 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

perhaps influenced by painted lacquers of the day, those of the fourth
and third centuries BC are characterized by fluid scrolls, usually inlaid in
sheet silver or gold. Popular well into the Han dynasty, examples from the
late Bronze Age share a taste for geometric designs, inlaid in sheet gold
and silver and occasionally in semiprecious stones, that emphasize orna-
13
ment over description. With the revival of interest in antiquity during the
Song came a renewed fascination with inlaid bronzes, archaic as well as
newly made. The dating of inlaid bronzes made during the long period
from Song through Qing remains one of the most vexing problems in the
study of later Chinese bronzes.
Fortunately, this box carries a mark on its floor reading Da Ming
Wanlinian zhi (Made [during the] Wanli era [of the] Great Ming), indicating
that it was made during the reign of Zhu Yijun (1563-1620), who ruled as
the Wanli Emperor (reign 1573-1620). The calligraphic style - as manifested
in the characters for wan and li, in particular - is identical to that in an artist's
inscription, or biankuan, dated to 1612 on the side of a jade seal excavated
in 1969 from a Ming tomb near Shanghai, 14 confirming the authenticity of
the inscription and thus the Wanli date of the box. Standard on imperial
porcelains, genuine Ming reign marks are rare on later bronzes, though
spurious ones abound. The mark thus sets this modest incense box apart
as a special piece, all the more important because it documents the use of
silver-wire inlay in the late Ming, alongside the better known inlays in
sheet gold and silver.
The decorative style of the box includes not only the all-over pat-
terning and bird's-eye view but also the reliance on relatively wide lines
for description and the incorporation of numerous short, noncontinuous
lines that add a staccato effect, increasing the sense of compositional
movement, often a goal in late Ming scenes of animals and figures. Qing-
dynasty examples, by contrast, tend to feature sparser designs described
with long, continuous lines of narrower width; the effect is usually one of
quiet equilibrium [compare 17,18].
In late Ming fashion, this piece was completely cold worked [compare
12], the box and cover hammered from a sheet of copper; cut from a sheet
of copper, the narrow lip was soldered into place. The decoration was inlaid
by hammering silver wire into prepared channels - presumably channels
with edges slightly undercut to hold the inlay in place - that were cut into
the copper after the box and cover had been shaped.

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