Page 336 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

ii4

Lacquer cabinet and vessels then drilled down the neck and another hole cut
into one side of the object's body to permit carving
5
Height 19.6 (7 / 8), length 71.5 (28), width 25.6 (10)
4
of the vessel's inner walls. Once finished, the inner
Middle Warring States Period, c. second half of
surface was coated with red lacquer and the hole
the fourth century BCE (before 316)
in the side sealed with a piece of wood cut to size.
From Baoshan, Jingmen, Hubei Province
The other objects that compose the set are deeply
Jingzhou Prefecture Museum, Hubei Province and evenly carved — testimony to improvements
in the quality of tools during the Warring States
This cabinet is composed of a body and lid of period. The cabinet's outer surface is lacquered
1
nearly identical dimensions. Its two short sides in dark brown or black; red lacquer was used for
are decorated with animal masks, discernible only the interior. A cabinet such as this example was
by their eyes and ears. Carved volutes, supporting a standard Chu product, as were chests for storing
the bottom of the chest, probably represent the swords. The same repeating scroll pattern appears
animals' claws. On the lid, scrolling relief decora- on a variety of wooden objects; here, however, the
tion (which may represent the scales of the animals' carving is exceptionally sharp and energetically
skin), is repeated in two wide bands that cross at drawn, testimony to the skills of Chu artisans. AT
right angles.
1 Excavated in 1987; published: Hubei 1991,1:132-135,
The handles, protruding from both sides of the and 2: color pi. 6.1 and pi. 40; Tokyo 19983, no. 38.
chest at corresponding positions on the lid and the 2 Hubei 1989,1:353 - 359.
body, suggest the snouts of zoomorphic animals. 3 The bottles are too small to contain beverages.
4 Tokyo 19983, 98.
Body and lid would have been secured with a
rope passing through the handles; such fastening
methods date back to fifth-century BCE storage
chests for cloth, such as those found in Tomb i at
2
Leigudun (c. 433 BCE). Certainly the contents of
the cabinet would have had to be secured for travel.
Containers are grouped by their intended use
within the cabinet's three inner compartments. A
side-compartment contains two groups of four erbei
for eating and drinking; two small bottles for condi-
3
ments are located in the compartment opposite,
and the center holds a large plate; extra space was
probably used to set food aside. Wrapped in a
leather bag tied with leather ropes, the cabinet was
placed in the eastern chamber of the tomb, to-
gether with most of the ritual bronzes and a large
set of containers for daily use.
Each of the containers, as well as each half
of the cabinet, was carved from a single piece of
wood — the most common (as well as the oldest)
technique of woodworkers of the period. The
manufacture of the two small bottles, whose surface
shows no trace of joinery, must have presented par-
ticular challenges. The first step would likely have
been to carve the bottle's outer form; a hole was

335 | TOMB 2 AT B A O S H A N , J I N G M E N