Page 87 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

Fig. w. Reconstruction of mold assembly for lost-wax
casting.
centuries systematic refinement of this latest
technical innovation allowed bronze casters to
produce the myriad Buddhist and secular gilt
bronzes of the Tang dynasty (cats. 160, 169) as well
as such spectacular creations as flying dragons
(cat. 59).
Lost-wax casting constituted a major technical
innovation of the first millennium bce, but by no
means the only one. Continued intermingling of
new ideas from different parts of China stimulated a
variety of new decorative techniques. One of these
was the use of color. Whereas the decoration of
bronze surfaces had previously been
monochromatic, accomplished solely with
patterning, the bronzes might now be inlaid with
gold, silver, and semiprecious stones (cats. 46, 49,
50), gilded with mercury amalgam (cats. 51, 52, 56),
or simply painted with pigments, among other
devices (cat. 53). These colorfully decorated bronzes
kept the industry healthy and productive well into
the first centuries ce, despite rising competition
from the lustrous jades, colorful lacquers, and
embroidered silks that had begun to capture the
hearts and budgets of wealthy elite patrons. 50
Local and peripheral traditions were not the sole
sources of challenge and inspiration for bronze
casters of the first millennium bce. Deliberate
archaism resurrected orthodox Shang and Zhou
styles. Although the four-sided wine vessel ( fang hit;
cat. 43) dates from the early fifth century bce, its
shape, paneled design, and petaled crown represent
deliberate echoes of a vessel type popular during
the ninth and eighth centuries
bce.''
traditions continued to figure in bronze designs of
the late first millennium bce, contributing to their
already complex artistic character and meaning. 53
A third driving force behind the creativity of the
first millennium bce: had little connection either
INNOVATION IN ANCIENT CHINESE METALWORK
with the somber rituals of the Shang and Zhou
courts, with longstanding artistic traditions, or with
particular local customs. The miniature carriage, a
box on wheels (cat. 42) dating from the eighth
century bce, is an early hint of this new force. 53
This remarkable object is ingeniously designed with
fifteen moving parts: six turning wheels; four
hinged openings (on top and at one end); a sliding
door bolt; and four pivoting birds. The one-legged
doorkeeper might have been chosen specifically for
his handicap, for he could not easily make off with
the treasures he is guarding. The carriage's clever
design, movable parts, and miniature size all suggest
that this was a toy. Perhaps it and other miniatures
found in the same context were indeed toys, the
—idle elite's playthings or collectibles perhaps even
containers for precious memorabilia.
Demand for similar utilitarian or luxurious secular
items flourished by the end of the first millennium
bce (cats. 49, 51, 52, 56). The crowning
achievements in this category must be the bronze
lamps made in the last centuries bce (cats. 53, 54).
Never meant as funerary paraphernalia or as ritual
implements, bronze lamps were strictly functional
furnishings in affluent households. Some, like the
multiarmed lamp (cat. 54), performed their function
simply by supplying effective lighting through a
delightful shape; others, like the lamp in the shape
of a goose (cat. 53), are dazzlingly ingenious, even
ecologically minded designs. As the wick burns
inside the cylinder on the goose's back, the vertical
panels that form the cylinder may be slid back and
forth so as to throw the light anywhere within 360
degrees. The smoke from the burning oil rises up
into the fish-shaped cover and thence to the neck
of the goose; from there it descends into the goose's
hollow body, which has been filled with water to
absorb the smoke. This keeps the room free ol smoke
1 Echoes of past
and smell/' Man dynasty householders were clearly
as mindful of the air they breathed as we are today.
TANG PERIOD
Even surpassing the extravagant luxury goods of the
Han court were those made for the ruling class of
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