Page 480 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

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MEI-PING VASE WITH PLATE
LOTUS DECORATION by Wang He

c. 1500 dated to 1489
Chinese Chinese
gilt copper and cloisonne enamel carved polychrome lacquer fti caij
l
height 52.1 (2o /2) diameter 18.8 (j /s)
3
references: Jenyns and Watson 1980, 105-114, 134, inscribed (over door): second year of Hongzhi
135; New Yor/c 1989, 102, no. 41 [1489]; signed (on door jamb): Wang He
Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris references: London 1958, 39, 73, pi. 66;
Ch'en 1966, 62-66; Riddell 1979, 208; ]enyns and
Watson 1980, 214
Although the mei-ping shape is rare in cloisonne
enamel, it was often produced in glazed porcelains The Trustees of the British Museum, London
by the master potters of the Jingdezhen area in
Jiangxi Province (cat. 330). The shape, literally Technically and historically this dish is one of the
"prunus vase," was particularly favored during the most important of all carved lacquers of the Ming
Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), but remained dynasty. Technically primitive carved lacquers
a standard vase form until modern times. The have survived from as early as about 1200 B.C.
body of this vase is decorated with lotus blossoms, (during the Anyang period of the Shang dynasty),
buds, and leaves, supplemented by peony and but the earliest known complex and accomplished
the gui f li ding of Shang (trad. 1766-1045 B.C.) mallow motifs. In the shoulder and neck registers pieces are rectangular sutra containers decorated
and Zhou (1045-256 B.C.) date served as ritual are aquatic flora, and encircling the base are with Buddhist motifs. These were excavated from
vessels and emblems of authority. It was only rising leaf forms, which on later vessels became the Rui'an pagoda, not far from Hangzhou in
natural that the Chinese, profoundly historical- abstracted into "gadroons." S.E.L. northern Zhejiang Province, which is dated to A.D.
minded and revering precedent, should repeat the 1043. Other carved lacquers in various collections
traditional shapes and treasure their historic are attributed to the Song dynasty (960-1279),
resonance in later ceramics and jades and, after but without full documentation. By the Yuan
1400, in cloisonne. dynasty (1279-1368) artisans had certainly mas-
But the ancient Shang decorative repertory of tered the technique; surviving works of that time
"ogre masks" (taotie), "thunder patterns" are fully developed, technically and aesthetically.
(leiweri), and various birds and beasts, though it Examples include boxes excavated from the Ren
continued to be employed in later dynasties on family tombs near Shanghai, dated to 1351.
archaistic bronzes (including some cloisonnes), This dish seems to be the earliest known exam-
gave way on most cloisonne vessels to the flora ple of carved polychrome lacquer. It is, moreover,
and fauna and spirited dragons found on the a tour de force of carving, in which three different
ubiquitous underglaze blue-and-white porcelains. colored layers of lacquer were made to yield a
Precedents for the grapevine motif on this li highly detailed and complex pictorial representa-
ding are found on vessels as early as the late Six tion. The technique, in brief, was as follows: the
Dynasties period (A.D. 222-589), and grapevines sap of the lac tree (Rhus vernicifera, C: qi shu) f
were much used on metalwork of the Tang refined and pigmented, was applied in many thin
dynasty (A.D. 618-907). Thereafter they fell into coats over a wood or cloth base, each coat being
desuetude until the early fifteenth century, when allowed to dry before the next was added. For
the grape and vine reappeared on rather splendid carved polychrome lacquers, such as this one, the
large white porcelain dishes with underglaze blue colors were laid on in layers, each layer composed
decoration. The luscious decorative effect of the of several coats of that color. More than one layer
design may seem to some traditionalists incon- of each color might be applied, so that each color
gruous with the gravity of the ancient shape. But could show up at various depths in the design.
the combination of motif and medium must have When the final coat of lacquer had dried, the
appealed to some scholar-officials, for cloisonne carver created the design by cutting each element
grapevines appear on a brush holder and a seal box down to its predetermined color and depth. The
in the Uldry collection in Zurich. A li ding from technique is vastly time consuming, the lacquer
the same collection is similar to the present vessel is toxic, but the results are aesthetically unique.
but has lost its gilding and lacks the engraved In addition, lacquer is highly resistant to liquids,
design of repeating "thunder pattern" around even to some acids. The art was in its heyday
the rim. S.E.L. probably from 1350 to 1550, and marked pieces
made for the Yongle (r. 1402-1424) and Xuande
(r. 1425-1435) emperors are much sought after.
Signed pieces are reasonably common, though
famous artisans' names are often forged.
The elegant and detailed carving on this dish
depicts in cinnabar red, yellow, and green one of

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