Page 43 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

VERMILLION BIRDS FOR
IMMORTALITY

Regina Krahl

Around the time of the Western Han (206 BC – AD 9), jade
stem cups of this type were items of the highest prestige
produced for the Chinese imperial house, local royalty and a
privileged elite connected to these courts. Related beakers
have been discovered at some of the period’s most important
residential and burial sites, and were in tombs placed in
prominent position. They were not ordinary wine cups, but
are believed to have been used in connection with immortality
rites, possibly as receptacles to contain gathered dew which,
mixed with powdered jade, is said to have been consumed
as immortality elixir. The bird decoration on the present cup
appears to be unique, but would seem to support such usage.
A cup from the tomb of Zhao Mo, King of Nan Yue (r. 137-122
BC), at Xianggangshan, Guangdong province, formed part
of an elaborate construct that not only secured it against
toppling but also emphasized its significance: It was placed
on a pedestal in the centre of a large bronze tripod basin, with
a trefoil jade disc around it, like a collar, and with three silver
dragons with golden heads rising from the basin to hold the
disc; see James C.S. Lin, ed., The Search for Immortality. Tomb
Treasures of Han China, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, fig. 1
2012, cat. no. 164, pp. 58 and 287-9. A jade stem cup, Western Han dynasty, excavated from a tomb at
The present cup is remarkable for its superbly designed and Luobowan, Guixian, Guangxi province
executed, majestic bird motif. The phoenix-like bird with its Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
down-curved beak, up-curved crest, fanciful tail, standing on After: Zhongguo meishu quanji: Gongyi meishu bian [Complete series
on Chinese art: Arts and crafts section], vol. 9: Yuqi [Jades], Beijing, 1991,
one leg, clearly represents the Vermillion Bird (zhuque) of the pl. 177
South, which is associated with the element fire and with the
force of yang. The cosmological concept of yin and yang and 圖一
the five elements, associated with the directions (plus the 西漢 高足玉盃 廣西壯族自治區貴縣羅泊灣出土
廣西壯族自治區博物館
centre), was one of the foundations of Daoist immortality rites. 出處：《中國美術全集．工藝美術編9．玉器》，北京，1991年，圖版177
The Red Bird therefore occupies a prominent position in Han
iconography and is ubiquitous in Han art, depicted in many
different media, in jade, for example, carved in openwork on
a pendent, also from the royal tomb of Zhao Mo, see Su Bai,
ed., Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhongda kaogu faxian/
Great Archaeological Discoveries of the People’s Republic
of China. 1949-1999, Beijing, 1999, p. 274; in gilt-bronze in
form of finials, e.g. on the famous jade wine container in
the Harvard Art Museums (Lin, op.cit., p. 169, fig. 54); and
in many Han stone reliefs, e.g. one from Suining county, Han Dynasty Tombs in Guixian County, Beijing, 1988, col. pl. 8
Jiangsu (Käte Finsterbusch, Verzeichnis und Motivindex der and pl. 28, fig. 3 (fig. 1); and a fourth cup from a royal tomb of
Han-Darstellungen [Register and index of motives in Han the Zhu kingdom at Shizishan, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, is published
illustrations], Wiesbaden, 1966-2004, vol. 1, no. 553). in Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhongda kaogu faxian, op.cit.,
p. 260; compare also a beaker of this type from the Sze Yuen
The design here used as a backdrop, which looks like a fairly Tang collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 5th April 2016,
regular geometric pattern, is in fact a most sophisticated lot 38 for a world record price, together with a related cup
design of whorls turned in different directions, joined up missing its stem, lot 42.
in pairs both horizontally and vertically but in an irregular
manner, thus imbuing the formal ornament with life. On the This beaker shape, made elegant through its waisted stem,
present piece, the pattern helps to focus attention on the came into use already prior to the Han dynasty and survived it,
birds as it serves to texture the ground. Companion pieces are but not for long. Prototypes may have been pieces of lacquer,
mostly decorated with whorl patterns only, and sometimes at the time also a highly prestigious material, see The First
have a baluster-shaped stem. Emperor, op.cit., p. 102, but the royal tomb of Zhao Mo also
contained a similar bronze stem cup and cover inlaid with jade
Somewhat earlier in date is a beaker recovered from the site plaques (Lin, op.cit., p. 66, fig. 39).
of the Epang palace outside Xi’an, Shaanxi province, which
had been commissioned by Emperor Qin Shihuang (r. 221-210 Although no other bird-decorated cup appears to have
BC) (p. 45, fig. 142); see The First Emperor. China’s Terracotta survived from the Han period, such designs seem to have
Army, The British Museum, London, 2007, cat. no. 92; another inspired the later production of archaistic vessels, such as a
cup, closely related in shape and with the whorl pattern cylindrical tripod cup with handle from the collection of Quincy
enclosed between related scroll borders, was excavated from Chuang, attributed to the late Ming (1368-1644), where the
a tomb at Luobowan, Guixian, Guangxi province, apparently bird is depicted with a complex, emphatically angled curlicue of
belonging to a high official of the Nan Yue Kingdom and dating tail feathers against a diaper design made up of squared scroll
from the long reign of the first Nan Yue King, Zhao Tuo (r. motifs; see the Asia Society exhibition Chinese Jades from Han
203-137), see Guangxi Guixian Luobowan Han mu/Luobowan to Ch’ing, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1980, cat. no. 140.