Page 99 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

more rational. Other developments are the the full range of techniques and of the highest material in all stages prior to
quality were produced during this period. As with curing.
extensive use of diaper patterns as background or to
many court-supported arts, production of lacquer 5. The complexity of these
indicate sky or water and the replacement of the
declined during the nineteenth century. Lacquer applications are well described
abstract patterns on the sides of the Yuan box with production for the merchant class and for a
growing export market continued, and was the by Shogyo Ohba in "The
Onvarious auspicious flowers. a majority of
main source of support for the medium into the Kyushitsu Technique
fifteenth-century covered boxes the sides are Demonstrated on a Natsume,"
twentieth century. in N.S. Bromelle and Perry
similarly decorated. Smith, eds., Urushi: Proceedings
of the Urushi Study Group, 10—27
By the Ming dynasty the mil range of decorative June, 1987, Tokyo (Marina Del
Rey:The Getty' Conservation
techniques was employed in the creation of Institute, 1988), pp. 91-94.

lacquers: painted lacquer, lacquer overpainted with

other materials; carved lacquer (diaoqi); "engraved 5. Wenwu, no. 4 (1982), p. 70.

1 (qiangjin), a design consisting of incised

gold'

outlines inlaid with gold dust over wet lacquer; 6. Kaogu, no. 5 (1984),
pp. 405-17-
incised and in-filled lacquer (tianqi or diaotian), a SOURCES FOR FIGURES
Fig. 1 . After Changsha 7. David Hawkes, trans., Hie
further development of qiangjin, in which the area Mawangdui yihao Hanmu
Songs of the South: An Anthology
within the gold-filled outline was painted with a ("Him tomb No. l at Mawangdui,
Changsha") (Beijing: Wenwu ofAncient Chinese Poems by
contrasting-colored lacquer; and inlaid lacquer. Q11 Yuan and Other Poets
chubanshe, 1973), vol. 2, pi. 26. (Harmondsworth: Penguin
Throughout the Ming dynasty the number of Books, 1985).
Fig. 2. After Changsha
imperial commissions for lacquer varied with 8. For a full description of the
Mawangdui yihao Hanmu
fluctuations in taste, economic conditions, and materials in tomb Number 1 at
("Han tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Mawangdui, see Changsha
doubtless other factors. The reign of the Jiajing Changsha") (Beijing: Wenwu Mawangdui yihao Hanmu
(Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe,
emperor (1522-1566) was a period of high chubanshe, 1973), vol. 2, pi. 160.
1973)-
production for all court-related arts, including Fig. 3. After Changsha
9. Hawkes, 77ic Songs of the
lacquer. Dynastic power was in decline during the Mawangdui yihao Hanmu
South.
reign of this emperor, who abdicated almost all his ("Han tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui,
Changsha ") (Beijing: Wenwu 10. Wang Shixiang, Zhongguo
authority to court eunuchs. The Jiajing emperor's gudai qiqi (Beijing: We nwu
chubanshe, 1973), vol. 2, pi. 192.
fascination with Daoism distracted him further chubanshe, 1987), pp. 12-13.
Fig. 4. After Changsha
from affairs of state, but was a major influence on 11. Billie Milam and Helene
Mawangdui yihao Hanmu Gillette, "X-Ray Radiography
the arts commissioned by his court. This emperor in the Study ot Oriental
("Han tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Lacquerware Substructures," in
spent great amounts of shrinking imperial funds on Changsha") (Beijing: Wenwu Brommelle and Smith, eds..
chubanshe, 1973), vol. 2, pi 27.
art. Production at imperially supervised factories Urushi, pp. 199—226.
Fig. 5. After Elizabeth Childs-
and workshops was high, but quality often was not. Johnson, "Jades of the Hongshan 12. For examples, see Shoso-in
Culture," Arts Asiariques 36. Bureau of the Imperial
A final burst of imperially commissioned artistic Household (Konaicho zohan
NOTES Shoso-in Jimusho hen), eds..
activity marked the reign of the Wanli emperor 1. The main criterion for the
(1573— 1620). Like the Jiajing emperor, the Wanli Treasures of the Sfioso-in, vol. 1
emperor ignored the need to strengthen a scholar's appreciation ot lacquer (Shoso-in Homotsu I). North I
government that had been weakened by decades of was antiquity. See Craig
corruption and poor leadership and instead Clunas, Superfluous Tilings: D[Kitakura (Japan: Mainichi
squandered time and resources on artistic Materia! Culture and Social Status
production. By the final years of his reign the Ming Shinbun, 1974), p\y 4°-43-
court no longer had the financial resources to in Early Modem China 4s-4-.-4-.S1. !3S-3<;.
commission works of art in great numbers or of
superior quality. By that time, however, other (Cambridge: Polity Press. 1991), 13. For X-rays of this type of
segments of the population had become significant pp. 11, 136-37. core, sec Milam and Gillette.
patrons of the lacquer arts, chiefly members of the
wealthy merchant class. Their particular social 2. The most expensive piece of "X-Ray Radiography," pp.
station and tastes created demands for a variety of
lacquer types, often tending toward the highly furniture in the inventory of 14. Sir Harry Garner. Chinese
the material confiscated from Lacquci (London and Boston:
ornate. Many of the spectacular examples of Faber and Fabci
mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquers of the late Ming the late Ming official Yan Song
and early Qing were intended for them. was a lacquered bed. Clunas, tv Wang. Zliongguo gudai qiqi,

Superfluous Tilings, p. [31. pi. 4^. p. 206,

THE QING DYNASTY (1644-1911) 3. Lacquered leather was used

Under the Manchu rule of the Qing dynasty, for armor throughout much of
1 asi \m.i. Although the two
imperial support for the lacquer arts resumed
during the reign of the Kangxi emperor materials are noi entirely suited
(1662-1722) and reached a peak during the reign of for use together, lacquer has
the Qianlong emperor (1736-1795)- Examples in been used to dc< orate bronze
sculpture and ritual objects

from (he Bronze Age to recent

tunes.

4. Uruslnol is the material in
the Huts rami!) (whi< h includes
sumac .\nd poison ivy) that
causes dermatitis, Special care is
required in handling this

SO FINE A LUSTER: CHINESE LACQUERWARES 97