Page 144 - Metropolitan Museum Collection September 2016

Fig. 1. Vase with design of chrysanthemum petals in peach-bloom glaze,
Kangxi period. After Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum
Collection, Shanghai and Hong Kong, 1998, pp.316-7, no. 204.
Chrysanthemum petals would also, perhaps, have been more
appropriate decoration on a vessel which was believed to have
been intended for the writing table of a literatus. Chrysanthemums
have been greatly admired, especially by Chinese scholars, for
centuries. They were used for making wine, for making tea, for
medicine, and dried chrysanthemums were put into pillows for
their pleasing fragrance and their cooling effect in warm weather.
In straitened circumstances, literary men such as Lu Guimeng 陸龜
蒙 (d. AD 881) and Su Shi 蘇軾 (AD 1037-1101) also recorded
eating chrysanthemums - the spring sprouts being tender and
succulent, and the summer leaves and stalks being tougher and
somewhat bitter. Drinking chrysanthemum wine on the 9th day of
the 9th lunar month became popular as early as the Han dynasty
(206 BC-AD 220). Chrysanthemums were admired by successive
emperors from early times, and were grown in the imperial gardens.
The Jesuit Pierre-Martial Cibot, who, in the 1770s, researched
early Chinese literature relating to chrysanthemums, noted that
traditionally the emperor’s plants were shaded with mats from
the heat of the midday sun, and that chrysanthemums graced the
imperial apartments from mid-autumn to the end of winter (see
Pierre-Martial Cibot, ‘Le Kiu-hoa ou la Matricaire de Chine’,
MNmoires concernant l’histoire, les sciences les arts, les moeurs, les usages, collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Porcelain
etc., des Chinois: par les missionaires de PNkin - Notices de quelques
Plantes, Arbrisseaux, etc. de la Chine, Beijing, 1778, pp. 455-61).
As early as the 7th century BC, fowers in early Chinese poetry
were used as symbols of female beauty and of scholarly rectitude,
reclusion and nobility. Interestingly, unlike most other fowers,
chrysanthemums are not usually associated with women, but with
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men of strength, integrity and nobility – no doubt in part because
their elegant fowers are the only ones to survive the icy winds that
herald the onset of winter. The Northern Song dynasty philosopher
Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (AD 1017-73), in his famous work ‘On a
Passion for Lotus’ (Ailian shuo 愛蓮說), says that he believes that
the chrysanthemum is the recluse amongst fowers, comparing
it to the over-popular peony. Chrysanthemums are specifcally
mentioned in the Shijing and in Qu Yuan’s 屈原 (343-278 BC)
poem Li Sao 離騷 (Encountering Sorrow). The chrysanthemum
is regarded as one of the ‘four gentlemen’ 四君 子 of plants, along
with prunus, orchid and bamboo, which also symbolize nobility
of character. Through their association with certain literary fgures,
chrysanthemums became symbols of Confucian scholars who
refused to compromise their principles and often retreated to a rural
existence far from political intrigue. Perhaps the literary fgure most
closely associated with chrysanthemums is Tao Yuanming 陶淵明
(AD 365-427) who is known for his love of these fowers, and who
has been depicted with them in paintings from at least as early as
the Song dynasty (AD 960-1279).
Chrysanthemums appear as decoration on Chinese ceramics at least
as early as the Northern Qi period (AD 550-577). While lotus was
the dominant foral motif in this and the succeeding Sui and Tang
dynasties, sprigmolded chrysanthemum blossoms adorn the second
register of the neck of a Northern Qi celadon-glazed vase in the
of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures
of the Palace Museum, vol. 31, Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 62-3, no.
57). Chrysanthemums also appear among the sprigged motifs in
the lowest register of decoration on a Tang dynasty ewer in the
same collection (illustrated ibid., p. 176, no. 162). Chrysanthemums
provided inspiration for Chinese potters from then onwards, and
reached a peak of popularity in the reigns of the three great Qing
emperors – Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.
The peachbloom glaze itself is of particular beauty and technical
complexity. It has been the focus of scientifc research since the
mid-20th century. Both the overall soft pinkish-red of the glaze,
and the areas of clear green which appear to a greater or lesser
extent within it owe their hue to copper. Firing in a reducing
atmosphere creates the red color, while re-oxidation creates the
green. This was therefore a glaze which had to be applied very
precisely and fred with great care. Research suggests that a copper-
lime pigment was applied between two layers of colorless glaze. The
copper-lime pigment was applied by blowing through a bamboo
tube with fne silk gauze over the end, to achieve an effect similar
to modern spraying techniques. This allowed the thickness of the
copperlime layer to be adjusted so that some areas would be thicker
than others. In those thicker areas there was additional fux, which
thinned the upper glaze layer and allowed the copper to re-oxidise
and produce clear green. In the other areas, some of the pigment
was undissolved in the glaze making it appear slightly opaque and
yet smooth on the surface, while the majority of the copper did
dissolve and produced a rich pinkish-red, and creating one of the
most highly esteemed glazes from the Qing imperial kilns.
Rosemary Scott
International Academic Director