Page 71 - Chinese Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 1 (Summer, 1997)

Box with
Design of
Rectangular Oval Dish with
Flower-and-Bird Decoration Antiquities
..............................................................................
late
of
17th
Ming dynasty, 16th-early century Qing dynasty, Kangxiperiod (1662-1722) The technique mother-of-pearl inlay
inlaid with
Black with and with Lacquer mother-of-pearl goldfoils underwent a transformation during the
and
lacquerpainted lacquer oil colors,
late seventeenth the last
basketrypanels L. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm) century, marking stage
L. 18 3/8 in. (46.7 cm) Lent Florence and Herbert of its development. Haliotis shells were boiled
Irving
by
to their to obtain thin iri-
Lent Florence and Herbert separate layers very
by
Irving
descent mother-of-pearl sheets. Cut into
acquer boxes with basketry panels were
used for presentation gifts and docu-
of
ments and for storage of various items during
the late Ming. Multicolored designs enjoyed
great popularity throughout the sixteenth cen-
tury. Here, using the wide range of colors
available in lacquer and oil, the artist created
on the cover a cheerful flower-and-bird scene
of two paradise flycatchers standing on blos-
soming camellia and plum branches behind a
fancy garden rock. (Quarried from lake beds,
perforated rocks like the one depicted here
formed an important element of Chinese
garden architecture.) In the seventeenth cen-
tury this type of round-shouldered box was
gradually replaced by straight-sided ones.
WAS

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