Page 24 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

Cylindrical (zhi)
Cup
........................................................................
late
Ming dynasty, 16th-early 17th century
Nephrite
H. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
Lent Florence and Herbert Irving
by
he shape and decoration of this elegant
cup illustrate the syncretic use of the
past that is often found in nephrite wares of
the late Ming dynasty. The cylindrical form
and ring-shaped handle derive from pieces pro-
duced in lacquer and bronze during the Western
Han dynasty (206 B. C.-A. D. 9). The three
carved feet in the form of animal masks also
reflect the art of the early Han. Two interlaced
and abstracted C-shaped forms with birds'
heads are carved in low relief along the sides
a
of the cup and set against background of
raised drops. The treatment of the birdlike
creatures recalls the decoration on Chinese
bronze vessels produced during the late
Eastern Zhou
period (770-221 B.C.). However,
the drops in the background are similar to the
designs of small rings found on Tang metal-
work and ultimately come from Central or
Western Asian sources. Comparisons with
other cups of this shape suggest that this vessel
originally had a lid.
The melange of early forms and designs as
well as the shape of the drinking cup are asso-
ciated with the work of Lu Zigang, one of the
most celebrated jade artisans in Chinese his-
tory. Two such cups with his signature are
known: one is in a private collection in England,
and the other was excavated in the early I96os
from the tomb of the daughter of the Qing
statesman Songattu.
is
Very little is known about the life of Lu material from Khotan available. Another was this cup typical of objects of the early sev-
Zigang. One of the few widely accepted works the relative stability of the area in southern enteenth century, when artists, relying on
bearing his signature is a box dated 1562. He China around Suzhou and Hangzhou during illustrations of collectibles, often misunder-
is also mentioned in the writings of late-Ming the late Ming, which helped to promote stood earlier works and thus amalgamated
authors such as the poet Xu Wei (d. 1593) intellectual and artistic pursuits in this region forms, themes, and styles of different eras.
and the writer Wang Shizhen (d. I590), which and led to a growing appreciation DPL
of the work
further indicates that he was active in the late of traditional craftsmen such as Lu, who had
sixteenth century. The i642 edition of the not previously been acknowledged in Chinese
Taicang Fufhi (Gazetteer of Taicang Pre- critical writings on the arts. In addition, the
fecture) lists the city of Suzhou as his birth- widespread interest in elegant surroundings
of
place and mentions the growth of his reputation and in the development exquisite taste fos-
of
during the mid-seventeenth century. tered the production guides to the art of
The rise of jade carving in Suzhou during living and illustrated books of antiquities
the late Ming period had two main causes. One and other collectibles. These publications
was the greater availability jade in China provided craftsmen like Lu with a range of
of
after about 1550 because of political changes motifs and shapes to use and to reconfigure.
in Central Asia that once again made the The pastiche of styles in the decoration of
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