Page 67 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

Platter with Scene
seven-Lobed of
children at
Play
.................................................................................... made Su Shi an soft texture. The of
type popular by (I037-IIOI), sophisticated techniques
Yuan 14th eminent poet-official of his time. The lotus- Yuan carvers formed a solid foundation for
dynasty, century
carved red lacquer
pond-and-waterfowl motif, however, became the continuing production high-quality
of
in
Diam. 21 7/8 in. (55.5 cm) fashionable during the Yuan period. narrative pictures lacquer during the early
Promised and Herbert The pictorial design on this platter exempli- and middle periods of the Ming dynasty.
Gift ofFlorence
Irving
fies the maturity of the Yuan development of WAS
in
he narrative scene with many figures on narrative subjects lacquer carving. The
a
this large platter represents type of artist's ability to deal with a complex scene is
carved lacquer prevalent, like the tixi examples, demonstrated in the clarity maintained
among
since the Southern Song dynasty. This depic- the many layers of details and overlapping ele-
tion of children at play in a garden setting is ments. The refined brocade patterns on the
obviously derived from a Song design, as background and the sumptuous floral border
evidenced by the costumes of several of the enclosing this image further enrich the overall
figures. The two women's costumes are in design. The painstaking polishing of the trans-
the style of the Song period, and the square lucent red lacquer removes all sharp edges and
hat worn by the boy in the lower right is of a gives the relief a relaxed appearance and a
66