Page 139 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art November, 2018 Hong Kong.

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A RARE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER This dish is unusual for its rendering of the ‘Three Friends of
‘THREE FRIENDS OF WINTER’ DISH Winter’ motif, with the trunk of the pine tree transforming into
MARK AND PERIOD OF WANLI, DATED a lingzhi-shaped cloud formation with extending branches.
DINGHAI YEAR (IN ACCORDANCE WITH 1587) While no other dish of this particular design appears to have
been published, this piece belongs to a group of lacquerware
of circular form, with shallow rounded sides flaring at the decorated with designs brimming with Daoist iconography.
rim and resting on a short foot, the interior carved with a This motif is possibly associated with the concept of xianrui
medallion enclosing the ‘Three Friends of Winter’, depicting (good omens), whereby clouds were believed to be an
a pine partly obscured by a moon among swirling clouds, accumulation of qi, understood as the essence of all things,
flanked by sprays of bamboo and a flowering prunus tree, all and therefore convey information or precede extraordinary
surrounded by four floral cartouches interspersed with various events. The lingzhi-shaped clouds may also refer to the belief
auspicious emblems on the cavetto, the exterior decorated mentioned in the Bencao gangmu (Compendium of Materia
with undulating flower scrolls wreathed in dense foliage, the Medica), which was printed during the Wanli reign, that the qi
base lacquered black and incised in gilt with an eight-character of old pine tree would transform into a lingzhi fungus (fuling)
reign mark dated to the dinghai year with effective immortality-inducing properties.
26.1 cm, 10¼ in.
剔紅漆盤，綴歲寒三友圖，蒼松枝幹幻化靈芝形流雲，如
HK$ 120,000-180,000 此設計珍罕少見，著錄無相類者。紋飾造形寓道教意涵，
US$ 15,400-23,000
重祥瑞之意，雲乃氣聚而起，氣者萬物之源，西漢一朝，
明萬曆 剔紅歲寒三友圖盤 有觀雲望氣一說，至明末，異象已與天意息息相關，本盤
《大明萬曆丁亥年製》款 圖紋之松芝靈雲，即屬祥瑞之象。萬曆時期，《本草綱
目》載，古松之靈氣，伏結而生「伏靈」，可延年益壽。

Mark
CHINESE ART 137