Page 24 - Scholarly Works of Art Hong Kong Sothebys March 3 2019

‘Blessings of Wealth and Honour’:
A Hundred Treasure Inlaid Birchwood Box

Dr Hajni Elias

Made of the Chinese red birch and inlaid with colourful she can oversee and guard her chick perched on a lower
precious and semi-precious stones and materials which rock below her. The blossoming peony, chrysanthemum
include lapis lazuli, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, rose quartz, and white magnolia and the flowering crabapple tree all
malachite and amber, this box is a testament to a late Ming appear luscious and textually sumptuous, while the pair
dynasty (1368-1644) artisan’s expertise in creating luxurious of butterflies expertly included in the top left corner of the
wooden objects of the highest craftsmanship. Fashioned composition, at a smaller scale to convey distance, display a
in the technique known as the ‘Hundred Treasure Inlay sense of air and lightness to the composition. The four sides
(Baibao qian)’, also referred to as ‘Made by Zhou (Zhou of the box are also richly inlaid with fruiting loquat branches
zhi)’, a credit to the inlay method used by the master artist and provide the perfect frame for the central composition on
Zhou Zhu (fl. 16th century), it employs a special decorative the cover.
technique associated with Ming imperial furnishing and one The decoration is rich in symbolism. The Chinese name
that continued to enjoy high popularity in the Qing period for the Ribbon-Tailed bird is the ‘Longevity-Tailed bird
(1644-1911). The imperial provenance of this exquisite box (Shoudainiao) because the ‘ribbon (shou)’ is a pun for
is indisputable, being one half of a pair of which the other is ‘longevity (shou)’ and dai is a pun for the word ‘generation
now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in The (dai)’, together symbolising happiness for many generations.
Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum. High officials in China historically wore a belt embellished
Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong with jade ornaments called yudai, making the Ribbon-
Kong, 2002, no. 223 (fig. 1).
tailed bird also a symbol of high official rank. For a further
The artist’s refined level of skill and expertise in working explanation of this bird see Teresa Tse Bartholomew,
with the various materials is displayed in the inlay method, a Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 2006, pp.
bolection-like technique in which the inlay projects beyond 215-218. Depictions of the magnolia (yulan) and the crab
its frame and thus creates a surface of different levels apple (haitang) together represent the wish for ‘riches and
with a strong three-dimensional quality. The two Ribbon- honour (yutang)’ and the combination of butterflies, peony,
Tailed birds (Shoudainiao), also known as the Red Billed crab apple and white magnolia is a reminder of accumulated
Blue Magpie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha), mother and chick, blessings of wealth, high official success and honour for
are expertly positioned in the composition to appear in one’s household.
different planes, with the mother standing on the rock where