Page 482 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

In its original format this small screen undoubt- outer band of decoration four long panels feature
edly had cusped top corners and two braces along yellow peony-scrolls against a dark red-brown
the bottom edge that allowed it to stand vertically plain background; between these panels are four
on desk or table. The multi-storied pavilion scene symbols in yellow against a background of yellow
is elaborate but organized with a clear accommo- intersecting circles on a red ground; the four
dation to the rectangular format. Although even symbols are: below, books for scholarship and
more complex than Catalogue 334, it is not quite protection; to the right, a coin for wealth and
so convincing in detail, and the single color limits material success; to the left, a pair of rhinoceros-
the possibilities for suggestion of depth. horn beakers for luck and the strong character
The scene may be nocturnal; a servant girl of a scholar; and above, a parasol (?) for majesty.
at the lower left holds what may be a light or a The strong central design shows a writhing five- 337
censer. The welcoming entourage of ladies on the clawed dragon and a phoenix (feng-huang) in
path at the lower edge recalls Southern Song fan flight. The dragon is the emblem of the emperor, BRUSH WASHER
paintings by the Ma family and others, celebrat- represents the eastern direction and the season of i$th century
ing the pleasure houses and barges of beautiful spring, and lives in a vaporous, watery atmos- Chinese
Hangzhou. The substantial buildings are sur- phere embodying the masculine principle (yang). green jade with reddish brown markings
rounded by gardens and stone walls, the latter The phoenix's abode is in the south, and this height 5.5 (2V2), l width 12.3 (4%)
with reliefs of running long-ma (?) or some com- magical bird contains the Five Cardinal Virtues, is length 16.0 (6/4) r
parable dragon-headed, four-footed mythical the emblem of the empress, and embodies peace Hong Kong Museum of Art, Urban Council
animal. The lone guest proceeds to the left in pro- and the feminine principle (yiri). Dragon and
cession with the servants. An empty chair and phoenix both pursue a flaming pearl at the center All surfaces of this rectangular basin are carved,
two servants await him just inside the entrance to of the design, representing purity and the heart including the base, where swirling currents and
the left, should his progress have overtired him. of the Buddha. Below the two are carved yellow breaking waves establish the conceptual founda-
The host and perhaps one other guest wait on the waves lapping at the three Mountain-Isles of the tion for the rest of the decoration. Three dragons
second floor. Immortals in the Eastern Sea, the legendary home emerge from those watery depths and climb
The ambience is all that the gentleman-scholar of Daoist spirits and source of the elixir of life. exterior walls carved deeply with cloud forma-
(wen ren) could desire. In the garden bamboo, The only purely decorative element is the peony tions to peer into the more oval interior, which is
plantain, pine, wutong (Firmiana simplex, some- arabesque filling the panels, and even here a scent more lightly incised with clouds. Dragons have
times called phoenix tree), and willow abound, of symbolism remains, for the peony represents both seasonal and directional implications. Fol-
along with the inevitable garden rock on its stone spring, wealth, and honor, and is empress among lowing their winter hibernation they rise from
or bronze pedestal. Above (and thus, according flowers. the eastern ocean to the heavens, where they
to Chinese perspective, in the distance) are small, The remarkable appearance and concentrated begin the spring rains and sport with pearls (one
writhing clouds on a fine-textured cloud back- symbolism of the plate suggest a particular impe- of which appears at the right front corner), caus-
ground. Distant mountains in "comb-tooth" rial commission; the date, 1522, the first year of ing the thunder which accompanies the rainfall.
shapes rise above the clouds. The most distant the Jiajing reign-era, strengthens the suggestion. Potters, metalworkers, and painters of the thir-
roof, for it is only that, is puzzling. At the cross- Perhaps the symbolism of the plate reflects the teenth and fourteenth centuries all adopted and
ing of its two wings is a f inial resembling a Bud- emperor's particular devotion to Daoist longevity advanced the theme of dragons amidst waves and
dhist "precious jewel of the Law," but below there magic, even in his youth (he ascended the throne clouds, and James Watt has noted a Yuan dynasty
is no supporting structure. Is the base lost in the at fifteen in 1521). So severely did the Jiajing (1279-1368) jade carving that is immediately
mist? Or is this an apparition, a holy and magical emperor's devotion to Daoism distort his rule and precedent to the present piece: a black jade wine
temple? S.E.L. deplete the imperial treasury that in the second bowl over four feet in diameter carved with drag-
year of his reign (1523) Grand Secretary Yang ons and waves on its exterior surfaces. Close
Tinghe (1459-1529) advised him not to take part ceramic parallels to the design here can be found
in Daoist services. S.E.L. on the large globular "moon flasks" of the Yongle
336 (1403-1425) and Xuande (1426-1435) reign-eras,
which is also the period during which imperial
PLATE WITH PHOENIX workshops are known to have produced jades for
AND DRAGON DESIGN use at court. Although this brush washer is not

marked or inscribed, its magnificent design and
dated to 1522
Chinese superb execution indicate that it was intended for
yellow and red carved lacquer (ti caij a client of exceedingly high status. H. R.
1
diameter 21.1 (S /^
references: Schafer 1969,110—114; Garner 1979
National Palace Museum, Taipei

On this most unusual piece of Ming carved lac-
quer, yellow has replaced the customary cinnabar
red as the dominant color in a complex and intri-
cately detailed design. The red background of the
central design was divided between a geometric
crisscross pattern representing sky or clouds and
a "fish-scale" pattern representing water. In the

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