Page 235 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

preferred simple unadorned shapes in plain dark red, brown, or
black. By the Yuan, lacquer was again being inlaid or engraved,
while a new technique, invented in the Sung and known by its Jap-
anese name of guri, involved cutting scroll patterns in V-shaped
channels that revealed the multiple layers of contrasting colour.
The typical Chinese lacquer of the Ming period was carved in
red with rich floral or pictorial designs (t'i-hung); either these were
modelled in full relief or the background was cut away leaving the
KSo Cup Man .1 Carved Ucquer. Yung-
design in flat relief as on many Han engraved stones. By the Chia- lo ( 1 403 -1 424) reign mirk and Ch'ien-
ching period, two styles, one sharp-edged, the other more lung inscription dated equivalent to
1 78 1. Ming Dynasty.
rounded, can be identified. The cup stand illustrated here is a
richly carved example of Ming t'i-hung; it was evidently a palace
piece through two dynasties, for in addition to the reign mark of
Yung-lo (1403-1424) it carries around the inside an inscription by
Ch'ien-lung, dated 178 1 The polychrome tray is typical of the
.
more elaborate and intricate taste of the seventeenth century. The
names of several master craftsmen of the early Ming period arc re-
corded. Nevertheless, lacquer is easy to imitate, and many of the
signed pieces of the fifteenth century, and those bearing Ming
reign titles (nien-hao), may well be later Chinese or Japanese for-
geries. Indeed, by the fifteenth century the Japanese had become
so expert in lacquerwork that Chinese craftsmen werejourneying
toJapan to learn the art.
261 Rectangular dish. Red. greenish-
black, and yellow lacquer carved with a
design of dragons amid clouds and
waves. Ming Dynasty, Wan-h penod
(iS73-i6ao).

The earliest known reference to cloisonne enamel in China occurs CLOISONNE ENAMEL
in the Ko-ku yao-lun, a collectors' and connoisseurs' miscellany
first published in 1388, where it is referred to as Ta-shih ("Mos-
lem") ware. No authentic examples of fourteenth-century
Chinese enamel work have yet been identified, though it is quite
possible that pieces were being made for ritual use in the Lama
temples of Peking during the latter part of the Yuan Dynasty. 3
This art, which permits such rich and vibrant colour effects,
came into its own in the Ming Dynasty, and the oldest positively
datcable pieces have the Hsuan-te reign mark (1426-143 5). They