Page 43 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

Medallion
late
Ming dynasty, 16th-early 17th century
Ivory
Diam. 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm)
Purchase, of Gifts, 1993
Friends Asian Art
1993.176

his ivory medallion, of unknown func-
tion, is carved on one side in high relief
with a scene of the return by moonlight of a
party from a "spring outing." Every detail of
the scene corresponds to its standard treatment
in genre paintings of the Ming period, such as
those by Dai Jin (1388-I462) and Qiu Ying
(I495-I552), in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei. On the reverse is a low-relief pattern
composed around the character wan, sur-
rounded by four cloud collars and in turn sur-
rounded by four "secularized" emblems of
Buddhist and Daoist origin. Interspersed
among the emblems are lotus, peony, aster,
and hibiscus blossoms. There are traces of
base. The center of
gilding on a red-lacquer
the back is penetrated by an iron pin that has
been cut to the level of the surface of the ivory.
There is a drilled hole on the edge, which is
carved with a diaper pattern.
Relatively few ivory carvings can be dated
with any certainty to the Ming dynasty. The
landscape scene on this piece, which is a stan-
in
dard subject Ming professional paintings,
provides an excellent clue as to the period of
the carving. The generalized emblems are also
indicative of a late-Ming date.
JCYW

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