Page 70 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

Rice Measure
.......................................................................
(1522-66)
Ming dynasty, Jiajingperiod
Carved andyellow-brown
red,green,
lacquer
H. 61/2 in. (16.5 cm)
John Stuart
Kennedy Fund, 1913
13.100.140
M ulticolored carved was devel- to the West. He is reputed as the author of together with the color contrast, create a sur-
lacquer
oped during the sixteenth century to DaodeJing (or Tao-te Ching, Classic of the real backdrop that emphasizes the deities'
feed an increasing demand for polychromatic Way and Its Virtue), the canon of Daoist phi- magical power.
designs on luxury goods as well as on every- losophy, and was the most important figure in In spite of the creative energy of the design
day items. To prepare polychrome carved the pantheon of popular Daoist belief. On and the skillful execution of the relief, the lac-
lacquer, layers of different colors are built up the right a Daoist deity wearing ceremonial quer is not of high quality. The inferior mate-
in
a
successively and are then cut back to reveal garb and holding scepter with both hands is rial, which is dull and muddy tone, indicates
the motifs in the desired colors. Since the design accompanied by dragon and colorful clouds. the deterioration of workmanship in the palace
a
is divided into areas of color revealed at vari- The two other sides of the vessel are adorned atelier during the early sixteenth century. An
ous levels, the resulting image is often flat with deities of similar demeanor. incised and gold-filled six-character inscrip-
and spatially compressed, without sculptural The compositions borrow freely from tion in,the vessel base dates it to the reign of
coherence. woodblock illustrations dealing with both the Jiajing emperor (I522-66), a devotee of
This rice measure is adorned on each of religious and secular subjects. The looming Daoism. WAS
its four slanted sides with a Daoist deity in cloud, which announced the arrival of a deity,
the foreground and a distant landscape back- was commonly used in Buddhist and Daoist
ground. The side of the vessel on the left in icons. The angular hill slopes were derived
the illustration depicts Laozi (or Laotzu, act. from topographical illustrations, and the bands
early 6th century B.C.) riding on a black ox of meandering mist were frequently used in
amid colorful scrolling clouds on a journey illustrations for popular novels. These conceits,
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