Page 230 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1942.9.588 (C-44i), 1942.9.590 (C-442)

Pair of Lanterns

Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Porcelain with overglaze famille verte enamels,
1942.9.588: 21.6 x 15.2 (8 Vi x 6)
5
1942.9.590: 21.5 x 15.2 (8 /s x 6)
Widener Collection

INSCRIPTIONS
these figures are a huge and elaborate Taihu rock and a Each lantern is decorated with four poetic couplets inscribed in
blossoming tree. In the sky is a sun painted in gold, with black enamel in standard script, in parallel columns
green and red clouds.
Scene 2: Accompanied by an attendant, a bearded mil- TECHNICAL NOTES
itary officer dressed in full armor and holding a halberd 1942.9.590 has two hairline cracks at the lip.
stands outside a walled compound. He speaks to a monk
who looks down from the opposite side of the wall. PROVENANCE England. (Gorer, London);
Richard
Bennett, Northampton,
Scene 3: In front of a garden pavilion a roguish beard- (Dreicer & Co., New York, agents for Gorer, London); sold 1912
1
ed figure with a staff talks to the young scholar and an to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park,
old monk. In the background are a balustrade and a large Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by
Taihu rock; inside the pavilion a folding screen is visible. gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener,
Scene 4: A young military official dances with a young Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
woman in front of a pavilion. On the terrace just in front
of the house a bearded man with an elaborate cap walks HIS PAIR OF LANTERNS is of exceptional quality. The
along reading a book. Tdecoration on the exterior of each lantern is executed
Scene 5: On a garden terrace with a balustrade the young in the famille verte palette over a colorless glaze. The inte-
scholar, the young woman, and a monk are shown talking riors are covered with a colorless glaze. Exterior enamel
with each other. The monk holds an open sutra, or holy colors include blue, red, aubergine, black, gold, and two
Buddhist text. In the background are a painted screen and shades of green. Each lantern is decorated with two
a table with a book, incense burner, box, and wine bowl. square and two leaf-shaped panels containing landscapes
Scene 6: On the edge of a rocky cliff a soldier with a and poems. The circular openings at top and bottom are
sword and staff says farewell to a young woman on an surrounded by multicolored hexagonal diaper grounds
orange horse. with enclosed panels in which stylized dragons are
SL depicted. Below these are concentric bands of red flames,
classic scrolls, and diaper grounds with panels containing
NOTES lions. The large central band of decoration around the
i. I would like to thank Professor Stephen Owen of Harvard main body is bounded by bands of ruyi lappets and pan-
University, Professor Robert Hegel of Washington University, els with floral scrolls against a diaper ground. Porcelain
St. Louis, and Professor Stephen West of the University of lanterns of this type became very popular during the
California, Berkeley, for their assistance in attempting to iden- Kangxi period.
tify the narrative subject of these lanterns. For a study of the The inscription in the large panels is accompanied by
Romance of the Western Chamber as a narrative theme in Qing seals painted in red enamel. The practice of inscribing
porcelains, see Clunas 1981-1982, 69—86.
poetic couplets in black enamel on porcelains began dur-
ing the Shunzhi reign (1644-1661), although surviving
REFERENCES examples are rare. It became more common during the
2
1904-1911 Morgan: i: 73, nos. 462-463, pis. 24, 26. Kangxi period and has continued into the twentieth cen-
1947 Christensen: 16,18. tury on porcelains made at Jingdezhen.

1942.9.588
Scene i: Two scholars are depicted viewing a waterfall
from a riverbank; a boat is tied up on the shore. Several
thatched huts appear nearby. The couplet reads:
The sun sets on the Yangzi,
Shining on the returning ferry.
This is followed by two indecipherable seals.

214 D E C O R A T I V E A R T S