Page 97 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

for the service of tea. Its pleasing shape and
decoration in subtle shades of brownish red lacquer
are typical of the ceramics and other wares that
were designed for tea enthusiasts.

Among other motives, the need for elegant, Fig. 5 . Lacquered wood cup stand. Northern Song
dynasty (960-1127). H. 6.5 cm, cup diam. 8.4 cm,
portable, yet sturdy implements for serving tea and saucer diam. 14.2 cm. Unearthed at Hanyang, Shilipu,
displaying tea wares inspired considerable Wuhan county, Hubei Province. Hubei Provincial
Museum, Wuhan.
experimentation with new core forms during the
Song dynasty. X-rays of a six-petaled dish in the originally highlighted by applications of gold dust
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a pair of five-
lobed dishes on loan to the Asian Art Museum of suspended in lacquer. In addition, seed pearls were

San Francisco, and a five-lobed dish in the Freer inlaid into the lacquer to emphasize certain aspects
Gallery of Art reveal that their cores consist of
of the design. The beginnings of the raised lacquer
single or multiple pieces of wood for the center, to
which woven wood sides are joined. This allowed technique can be seen in the box from Mawangdui

enough thickness in the sides to carve decoration We(cat. 68). also know from materials preserved in
and made a light yet strong object. 12 In basic body
type and thickness the cup stand (fig. 5) is similar to the Shdso-in, in Japan, that both relief and inlaid

this group. Ondesigns were popular during the Tang dynasty. 1 -'

Because they have long been removed from their the Northern Song reliquary and sutra boxes these
original context, the use and patrons for this type
of lacquer are subject to conjecture. In shape the techniques are used in a very sophisticated manner
cup stand in figure 5 relates to ceramics such as
Ding ware, which was made for the imperial court to frame the areas of pictorial design and to create
during the Northern Song. Chan Buddhism
influenced many of the arts of the Song dynasty, major decorative motifs in relief.
and lacquer was no exception. It is likely that this
piece was created for the Chan-influenced tea On each vertical side of the reliquary floral scrolls
ceremony that became prevalent in China during
the Song dynasty, perhaps to hold a small tea bowl. frame a scene of Guanym, the Buddhist deity of
The costly materials establish that the patrons were mercy and attendant to Amitabha Buddha. These
among the wealthy elite of the time. scenes are painted in lacquer pigmented with

Lacquered wood also proved to be the perfect powdered gold. On the outer sutra box are images
medium for creating elaborate and decorative
of Buddhist deities seated on lotus blossoms and a
storage boxes for sutras and other Buddhist series of auspicious animals and birds, all in molded
lacquer. The inner sutra box is elaborately decorated
Aparaphernalia. vertical box (cat. 72) and a sutra with scrolling floral designs painted in gold lacquer.

container in the form of nested boxes (cat. 73), all THE YUAN AND MING DYNASTIES
quite large, have been found at the site of the (1279-1644)
Huiguang Pagoda, built in 1043 at Ruian, Zhejiang
Province. They have been identified as products of Profound changes occurred during the brief
Wenzhou in the same province, one of the most Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) that had a
famous centers for lacquer production during the deep impact on Chinese society and the art'-.
Song dynasty. The vertical box (cat. 72), identified as
a reliquary, is decorated on all four sides with mForced from their traditional role the Confucian
Buddhist scenes. The pair of nested boxes (cat. 73),
also ornate, held Buddhist scriptures. Although all bureaucracy, many of the educated elite turned to
three are relatively simple shapes, they represent
some new departures in decoration and decorative the arts as .1 vocation and refuge. Patronage patterns
also changed dramatically during this period.
technique.
Although Chan and other forms of Buddhism
The overall base color of both the reliquary and the remained strong supporters of the arts, the Yuan
outer sutra box is light brown, with a band of red

on the top section of the reliquary. Applied to the
surface of both are extensive areas of floral
decoration, auspicious animals, and Buddhist figures
created from raised areas of molded or embossed
lacquer. Portions of the molded floral designs were

SO FINE A LUSTER: CHINESE LACQUERWARES 95